Needing the Kraken: Cursed Mermen Book 6, Aramis Jordan

This book was...interesting.

I liked the premise and was drawn into the general story trajectory and was tantalized by the tentacle love... But somewhere between the beginning of the middle and the very end I got lost. The spice was there, oh holy good night, was it there, but that was kind of what carried the story. There were feels and they came on slowly since admissions were kind of few and far between with most of the feels being revealed through actions and inner dialogue rather than being shared and communicated.

The scene where certain personal truths were shared and explained was actually done well with tact, heart, and acceptance. Perhaps it was a little too easy, but by this point there was a whole lot of drama put behind them, danger conquered, and time for genuinely deep feelings to take root. I didn't mind that it was more tender and sweet rather than complicated.

And we have the implantation and birthing scenes....oh my... If that kind of cephalopod stuff is not your thing, understandable, just skip ahead.

Also, if this is the first book of the series that you read, as was the case for me, there's nothing included, even in the epilogue, that would give spoilers for any of the previous books. There are a couple characters and groupings that interested me in the epilogue, but I have to say, despite that interest, those stories will likely not make the top ten on my To-Read list merely because the writing is very word heavy with less progress achieved than expected with the sheer number of words. I totally feel the reviews of readers that said they skimmed a whole lot. At times I wish I had.

*$4.99 on Amazon or Free on KU!

A man on the run.

A dangerous sea witch offering shelter.

Nobody can know who Sebastian really is. Driven from his home and chased by the king’s henchmen, Sebastian runs into Malik, a sea witch and kraken shifter. At first he’s repulsed by Malik’s eight long appendages, but with nowhere to go, Sebastian has no choice but to fling himself into Malik’s many arms.

Malik is the mightiest witch in the New World. His magic grants him dark powers, but the one thing he can’t have is love—because Malik guards a deep secret. When Sebastian comes to him for protection, he grants it. As they grow closer, the pressure on Malik to reveal his best-kept secret mounts. But what if the truth sends Sebastian running into the arms of his enemies?

Needing the Kraken is a 72,000 word MM romance. It features an intense love story, plenty of steam, secret identities, close proximity and a non-binary main character. This gay, paranormal romance is a standalone and the final book in the Cursed Mermen series. HEA guaranteed!

A Little Christmas: Blake, W. Rathbone

The focus of the story was on the tenderness, the sweet feelings of something unexpected and everything you hoped for but thought could never be yours. There were two sides here that actually got a good amount of balance between them giving the overall feel of the story a satisfying evolution. Between the self discovery on Eliot's side and the self-acceptance on Blake's I felt a lot of newness, raw, honest vulnerability, and a childlike wonder.

While I very much enjoyed those things and seeing both men blossom under one another's care and acceptance, the story was very simple. The length of the story didn't allow for delving into anything other than their connection. Keeping things simple and uncomplicated on the side of Eliot's work and family situation, not revisiting Blake's awful boss, and nothing major to keep the men apart all worked to keep the short story focused, it just also didn't delve too deep.

There was also something about their dynamic that was kept almost a little too simple. I'm of two minds about this one because on the one hand it could have been problematic to have both men jumping into a lifestyle neither one had really looked into, researched, or learned much about at all. On the other hand by keeping both men's preferences perfectly aligned and giving it an almost "fated mate" feel to their connection on both the romance and keenk (yes, I know that's not how it's spelled...) it kept it from seeming unhealthy, uninformed, and potentially damaging.

So did I like the book? Definitely. Was it everything? No. Would I read more from this author's new-ish penname? Yep!

*$3.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!

Can a Christmas miracle make Blake’s secret dream come true?

Blake has no one. His boyfriend cheated on him and left without a word taking almost everything in the apartment. His boss fired him. He’s behind on the rent and Christmas is coming.

But there is one man, Eliot, always impeccably dressed, always with a nice word, who keeps running into him. Blake knows him as a regular at the diner where he used to work. The man was a great tipper.

Eliot asks him out. Blake accepts. When his date shows up in a gleaming Rolls Royce to pick him up and Blake is wearing only his best jeans and an old sweater, shivering in the new falling snow, he realizes Eliot is way out of his league.

He can’t possibly go on this date now. He’s not good enough. Worse, if Eliot were to ever find out his secret, that Blake has a little side and an impossible dream to one day call a lover “daddy” and not get smacked or laughed at for it, Eliot would probably never want to see him again.

But it’s Christmastime, and Eliot is a surprisingly persuasive guy, not to mention full of his own sweet secrets. This is the time of year when things have a way of working out, but can Blake let down his barriers long enough to see the special truth between them?

Contemporary holiday gay romance, age gap, billionaire, rescue, comfort from the cold, HEA. This is an MM daddy/little Christmas twist on The Little Princess Classic tale. Each age play romance book in this multi-author series can be read as a standalone.