Game by London Casey & Ana Fawkes

This is a review of Game by London Casey & Ana Fawkes.

I was unable to finish this book. To me, it was boring. I read about half of it and could to bring myself to finish it.  So I can't tell you much about this book.

We meet Finn who is an Irish underground MMA fighter that works for the mob. We also meet Shayna. Shayna is trying to find out what happened to her sister who has disappeared. Finn's boss tells Finn that if he wants to live that he must make Shayna pregnant so that he can take the baby to replace his dead grandson. Finn is determined that if he makes Shayna pregnant that no one is going to take the baby. Honestly, I can't tell you anything beyond what has happened up until this point since I was unable to finish this book.

Recommendation: Skip this one.

Devoted by Sierra Riley (A M/M Romance)

This is a review of Devoted by Sierra Riley. This is a male/ma;e romance.

In Devoted, we meet Russ. Russ is a single father raising his young son after his wife's tragic death. Russ is barely keeping his head above water financially and is struggling. He finds out his son needs major surgery and doesn't know how he is going to pay for it. Jake, his best friend since college comes up with a solution. He proposes that the two of them get married so that he can add Russ and his son Ryan onto his health insurance. Jake has been in love with Russ since college but Russ does not know this. Russ agrees to the marriage but is afraid that they will get in trouble for insurance fraud.  Ryan has his surgery. The news of Russ and Jake's marriage is revealed with an article in the newspaper and they are left to deal with the fallout from the article. They deal with that issue and receive the news that the insurance company is investigating them for insurance fraud. The insurance company uses some unscrupulous practices trying to prove they committed insurance fraud. During this time frame, Russ has fallen in love with Jake and he jumps to Jake's defense. The two work on building their life together. They also receive the news that the insurance has decided to cover Ryan's surgery and any medical claims that they may have in the future.

Recommendation: Read this one. It is a very heartwarming read with real emotion.

The Best Laid Plans by Lauren Gallagher (M/M/F romance)

This is a review of The Best Laid Plans by Lauren Gallagher.

Shahid and Gabe are a gay couple who keep getting turned down to adopt a child due to the fact that  they are gay and Shahid is Muslim. They are on the verge of giving up on having a family of their own. Kendra is one of their best friends. She comes up with the idea to have a child for Shahid and Gabe so they can begin their own family.  After some discussion Shahid agrees to Gabe and Kendra trying to have a baby the natural way instead of using IVF. Gabe is bisexual so he is the one that gets to try to impregnate Kendra. Kendra however, finds out some unsettling news that she is unable to get pregnant and will need a partial hysterectomy. She ends up sleeping with Gabe one last time and this causes a huge fight between Shahid and Gabe. Things are strained between them for a while until Kendra pays Shahid a visit. After Kendra's visit Gabe and Shahid talk and work things out between them. They both realize that they are both in love with Kendra. They talk to Kendra and they work things out. They settle into a life together and as Kendra is recovering from her partial hysterectomy they get a phone call that they might have a baby that they can adopt. The three of them meet with the birth mother and she is more than happy to have her baby go to their family despite their unconventional relationship.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Recommendation:  This one is worth a read. It is a very sweet story and not to heavy.

Cruel Water by Freya Barker

This is a review of the novel Cruel Water by Freya Barker.

NOTE: THIS NOVEL MAYBE A TRIGGERING EVENT FOR SOME READERS AS IT DEALS WITH MENTAL,  SEXUAL, AND PHYSICAL ABUSE OF A CHILD AND CONTINUED ABUSE AS AN ADULT AND THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THOSE EVENTS. 

I don't want to trigger anybody so I am not going into as much detail with this review as I normally do.

As I mentioned in my above note this story deals with mental, sexual, and physical abuse of child and an adult and the ramifications of that abuse on the lives of all involved.  The book is a tough read and if one can manage to get through this brilliantly written novel, it tells a story of loss, hope, redemption, courage, love, healing and forgiveness.

We meet Viv who has endured horrific abuse and who has tried to move past this abuse by not really dealing with the abuse and just bottling it up inside her. She won't even reveal the extent of the abuse she suffered to her therapist. She is just existing from one day to the next until she meets Ike. Ike is dealing with his own demons because he feels responsible for the loss of his own family. He feels responsible for his brother's death and for the death of his parents and is being eaten alive with guilt over it. He bottles up these feelings and tries to pretend they don't exist but they continue to haunt him. Ike falls hard and fast for Viv and she does the same for him. Viv still has lots of issues from her past abuse as a child and adult that she hasn't dealt with and they come out after certain triggering events in her life. Viv has some rough stuff going on with her family as they deal with a decline in her father's health . The abuse she suffered as a child at the hand's of her father comes out as he lays dying in the hospital and it tears her family apart. She feels ganged up on by her family because they don't believe her at first. Eventually her family does come to believe her one by one and she begins to mend the relationships she has with her brothers. Her mother still doesn't believe her but she eventually comes around and her and Viv begin to mend their relationship as well.

Ike helps Viv to deal with these events and helps her to heal with his love and unwavering support. Viv helps Ike to heal from his guilt over losing his family. They find happiness together and get married and begin their lives together.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My recommendation: This one is worth a read if you can get through the difficult subject matter.

Darkness by Nora Ash (Complete Series Books 1-4) (M/F/M romance)

This is a review of the Darkness Series by Nora Ash. This is a M/F/M manage romance. It is a serialized novel that consists of four parts. They must be read in order.  You can pick up each book individually or all of them as one book. It is also available for free on Kindle Unlimited.
The reading order of the individual books is listed below:
1-Into the Darkness
2-Hidden in Darkness
3-Shades of Darkness
4-Fires in the Darkness

In the world created in the Darkness series, we encounter sueperhumans living amongst humans. Each superhuman has a secret identity and superpowers (think like Batman or Superman). Some of these superhumans are good and some are evil.

Kathryn Smith is a culture blogger that longs to be a real reporter. She goes to a coffee shop one night and it is held up in a robbery. Lightning one of the superhumans comes to the rescue and Kathryn films the whole thing on her cell phone. She ends up writing a scathing blog post about the city's dependence on the superhumans and about corruption in the mayor's office. Little does she know, she opens a can of worms with this blog post. She is paid a visit by Lightning and he tells her to back off the story and she refuses because she realizes she actually hit on a real story that could make her career. Lightning marks her for "protection". Kathryn continues to investigate the story and almost gets raped and kidnapped. Another superhuman calling himself The Shade comes to her rescue. He kills the people trying to kidnap and rape her. He finds out Lightning marked her but he tells her the mark isn't complete because Lighting didn't have sex with her. The Shade wants Kathryn for his own so he has consensual sex with her in the alley and layers his mark over Lightning's mark. He only wanted to mark Kathryn because Lightning is his nemesis. However, The Shade decides he wants Kathryn. Kathryn doesn't want to want The Shade because she is scared of him but attracted to him at the same time. Kathryn continues to investigate the case despite being warned not to by The Shade.

At the mayor's ball, Kathryn figures out The Shade's secret human identity when she shares a dance with him however, she doesn't reveal she knows who he is. Lightning finds out that The Shade marked Kathryn and is angry over it. He ends up marking Kathryn for real and layering his mark over The Shade's mark. Kathryn continues to have a sexual relationship with both Lighting and The Shade.

Kathryn ends up being kidnapped by Bright who is an evil superhuman that wants to take over the world. He leaves a message for Lightning and The Shade that if they want Kathryn back that they must go before the ruling council and claim her together saying that she belongs to both of them. If they don't claim her, he plans on killing her. They both show up in front of the council to claim Kathryn much to everyone's surprise including Kathryn's.

Lightning and The Shade end up going together to see their old mentor and he tells them that Kathryn is their true mate and that she is capable of producing a child that will be a superhuman which is very rare. The two end up having sex with Kathryn. Neither one wants to let her out of their sight. She slips out later while both Lightning and the Shade are sleeping to go meet her friend Trish. She is betrayed by Trish. When The Shade and Lightning discover she is gone they are very fearful for her safety. They read the note she left and Lightning knows something is wrong because of the person she said she was going to meet in the note. This doesn't make sense yet to the reader but it will. Kathryn is kidnapped by her so called friend and also Lightning and The Shade's former mentor. Before he knocks her out she manages to call The Shade's cell phone and he hears the whole kidnapping. They track Kathryn's cell phone and find where she is being held. They go to rescue her.

They discover that the mayor is actually the superhuman villain Bright who is trying to take over the world. He says he will turn Kathryn loose if either Lightning or the Shade will sacrifice himself to save her. Lightning volunteers and Bright removes Lightning's mask and his secret identity is revealed.  He plans on killing Lightning on TV. It makes sense now how they knew Kathryn was in danger after reading her note because it is revealed that Lightning's secret identity is the reporter that Kathryn was supposed to be meeting with.

The Shade take Kathryn to safety but realizes that their triad won't be complete without Lightning. So they devise a plan to rescue Lighting. They enact their plan with the help of the police force. They save Lightning. The Shade almost gets arrested because he had to reveal his identity to the police chief and he doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation. He manages to get out of it but they seize Lightning's and The Shade's assets. They move in with Kathryn and we find out the true reason for the angst between Lightning and The Shade. The two men begin to mend their relationship and the three settle into a life together. Kathryn becomes and ambassador for  relationships and right between superhumans and regular humans. Kathryn also learns she is pregnant.

My recommendation: Read this one. It's a great story.

Demon's Mark by Nora Ash (Complete Series Books 1-6)

This is a review of the Demon's Mark Series by Nora Ash. This is a serialized novel where each segment picks up where the previous one left off.  This is a very dark romance that has some pretty brutal scenes and some scenes that are basically rape. It is rich with demons. I don't normally read books this dark but I like Nora Ash so I figured i would give it a try.

You can purchase the books as one book or buy each installment individually on Amazon. If you are a Kindle Unlimited member you can read the series for free. You will need to read these in order. The reading order is as follows:
1-Branded
2-Tricked
3-Hunted
4-Captured
5-Claimed
6-Cherished

We meet a young woman named Selma that can see demons. Selma ends up in a mental facility after stopping a brutal attack on a young woman. She finds out she is she has been marked as a breeder for a demon lord so that she can have his children. Apparently certain women are capable of breeding with demons and only the pure breeders are capable of being with a demon lord. She finds out she is one of these pure breeders and will be sent to an auction to be auctioned off to the highest bidder out of the demon lords. She doesn't want this. She manages to escape from the procurer for the breeder who is posing as a psychiatrist at the mental hospital. She tricked him into believing that she wanted to be with him. She goes on the run hiding from the demon. Selma has been marked by the procurer with a brand and any demon that touches it will ignite a sexual frenzy in her that won't abate until she has sex.

Selma gets captured by female demons who want to torture and kill her to keep her from breeding with a male demon lord because the male and female demons are at war with each other.  She is also being hunted by the demon she ran from because he wants her for himself and vows to have her.  Selma is saved from the female demons by a demon lord named Kain. Kain doesn't want a relationship with a breeder. He knows the location of a sanctuary for breeders who don't want to be breeders. He tries to take Selma there but she is captured and taken to be prepared for an auction to be given to a demon lord. They keep her in a sexual frenzy for days until they decide that she is ready for auction. Meanwhile Kain has decided he wants Selma for himself so he goes to the auction. He wins the auction and he violently takes Selma in front of the other demons as is the demon custom.

Kain decides to take Selma to the sanctuary after all but Selma doesn't want to go anymore because she loves Kain but Kain doesn't know that. He thinks he's doing her a favor by letting her go. Kain is in love with Selma but doesn't admit to it and proceeds to take her to the sanctuary. However, Selma is expelled from the sanctuary before she can enter it because she finds out she is pregnant with Kain's demon child. Kain ends up getting kidnapped by the evil demon queen who want to use him for breeding. He refuses and is beaten and chained. Meanwhile Selma is ambushed by the procurer and she manages to kill him because of a new power that she discovers. She flees to Kain's family. Kain's brother, father, and Selma engineer a plan to rescue Kain. They manage to rescue him and Selma kills the demon queen.

Kain realizes that he will have to become a ruler of the demons because their is a demon prince that almost won Selma at the auction and he wants her for himself and plans on killing Kain to get her. A battle ensues between Kain and the demon prince and Kain kills him and he becomes a demon king with Selma as his queen.

My recommendation: This is a very dark romance with lots of violence and brutal sex bordering on rape so avoid it if those offend you. Otherwise it is worth a read. 

Fierce Salon by Aspen Drake (Complete Series Seasons 1-3)

This is a review of Fierce Salon. Fierce Salon is a serialized novel that contains three different seasons. This is a review of all three seasons.

Season One is entitled Wash (Episodes 1-5) by Aspen Drake. This is all 5 episodes of Season One entitled Wash in one collection.

Fierce Salon is set in a hair salon. It is owned by former model Nate Edwards. We meet Nate and several of his employees in this story.  We get a peek into the lives of each of them but this story revolves mainly around Nate and a new stylist named Amy. Nate has a strict policy about not dating his employees but his clients aren't off limits to him. However, he just can't resist Amy and the two embark on a relationship together that they try to keep secret for as long as they can. Nate can be a bit of a jerk and will make you want to strangle him.

 Season Two of Fierce Salon is entitled Rinse. It contains episodes 6-10.

In Season Two, Nate receives a nasty surprise in the form of his ex showing up with a 3 year old in tow claiming that it his child. Everyone believes the child belongs to Nate including Nate because the child has a strong resemblance to him.

We met Olivia, one of Nate's stylists in the previous book and in this one after a fight with her boyfriend she meets a dangerous man in a bar that results in a brutal rape and attack. Frankie (another employee at the salon) becomes worried when Olivia doesn't show up to work and he goes to her home and finds her after the attack and gets her to the hospital.

Frankie meets a new love and forms a relationship with a man much younger than him but they make each other very happy and are each what the other needs.He feels responsible for the attack on Olivia because he was with her at the bar and left her their with the man who attacked her so he could go meet his new boyfriend.

Carly, another one of Nate's stylists meets two men that turn out to be very wealthy named Max and Noah. They are stepbrothers who both want Carly. She becomes involved in a menage relationship with both of them. They make her very happy even though their relationship is a little unconventional.


Season Three in Fierce Salon is entitled Repeat. It contains episodes 11-15 and is the conclusion of the series.

It picks up where Season 2 left off. It wraps up all of the story lines very nicely.

 We learn more about the attack on Olivia in this book. She survives her brutal assault and rape but is left with scars both physical and mental that her boyfriend Greg helps her deal with. he is very patient with her. There is a moment where Olivia finds out she is pregnant and she is terrified that the baby belongs to her rapist. Greg tells her that he will love the child whether it is his child or not. However, they are both relieved to find out that the child belongs to Greg. Olivia and Greg marry and settle into a life together.

We also see Frankie and Andre settle into their relationship and see Andre starting to come out of his shell and slowly becoming more comfortable with being an openly gay man.

Nate learns shocking news about the child that he thought was his son after taking a paternity test. He find out that the child is not his son but turns out to be his brother. They decide it's better for all involved if everyone thinks that the child is Nate's son. Nate's mother signs full custody over to Nate and Nate and Amy decide to raise the child as their own. Amy and Nate marry and we find out Amy is pregnant with their own child.

Carly continues to settle into her relationship with Max and Noah and is very happy. Her story is to be continued in the story Creamy's Bakery: Knead which is her brother Mason's story so we will have to stay tuned for that one.

My recommendation: Pick up this complete series and read them!