Light My Fire: GSC in Love Book 1, Katy Manz

This was just...okay.  I had really high hopes because dragons, I mean, it's got dragons!  But alas, dragons were not enough to make me love this story.  The dragons were the best part, especially Zander, with their complicated, potentially tragic family situations, the love and support, and the lack of pride that could have destroyed them all.

But then you've got Rayne who seemed to be a total boss, in control of so much, an incredible magic wielder, and fierce.  He should have been the best partner to Zander.  I generally love an omega who doesn't fit the stereotypical role and doesn't want to, but here he was so disdainful of those who chose what he feared.  Yes, he got over it, but he was so arrogant, so unbending, so narrow sighted when things got tough.  I wanted to see him be humbled, not just come to the conclusion that he needed to do better.  There was a dream and I truly needed to see that dream because days later and I'm still mad at Rayne for doing what he did to Zander.

Overall this was a good story, not a bad one, but I just don't know that I will put book two high on my TBR list.  Maybe, maybe because Rayne won't be the lead and there will still be my dragons I'll give it a chance...  This was my first book by this author so I think I will give it a chance, I just wasn't impressed by one of the male leads.

Oh, but the best scene ever, the one that totally stabbed me right in the feels, yeah, that might definitely make me come back for more.  Zander's father's immediate reaction to his mate's distress?  That was pure gold with so much love and so much of a 180 from the male we met near the beginning.  Beautiful moment.  So yeah, maybe I will read book two sooner rather than later...

*$3.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!

Little Boy Blu: Little Big Heart Book 1, Wendy Rathbone

This is saccharine, sugar, and all kinds of sweet so if you're craving sweet, no angst, cuddlef**king then this is your jam.

Blu and Maks both aren't prepared for the kind of perfection they could provide one another and yet they fall so effortlessly into exactly what they need.  While I can absolutely see some of the pitfalls that reality should have put in their path, this wasn't meant to be picked apart that way.

The one thing that made this such an awesome read for me was Blu's short yet very, very clear deliniation between being a little and yet still a man.  Sometimes a lot of these age play stories give me the really uncomfortable icks because it seems so close to something that should make everyone uncomfortable between adults and children but that is so very not what happens here.  Blu is well aware of who and what he is and also what he needs in all aspects.  I see him as a little and I also see him as a man, this blend is done extremely well here.

Maks is such a good Daddy.  He's been yearning for this for so long and yet never knew what or how or when it would ever happen.  He was just right.

What dropped this from 5 to 4 stars was the frequent hints that there would be obstacles, interference, discovery from family or media.  I was very glad none of it panned out, but there was something hanging around nearly every scene that made me wonder if some kind of conflict or angst was going to be tossed in just for the sake of "believability", but I should have remembered whose book I was reading.  This author is quite good at not creating needlessly convoluted or contrived storylines more often than not.  So while this all worked out well, there were too many hints that didn't play into anything beyond giving me more apprehension than sugary sweet lovin'.

*$4.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!

Hard on You: Wingstead Book 4, Caleb Marks

Evan and Finn, what a pairing. This was the first book I've read not just from this series, but from this author as well and I have to say, I was impressed in a lot of ways.

Evan, the big, gruff cop with a bit of trauma to make accepting an open love with Finn difficult. Finn, the sassy, devil-may-care young man with a lot of loneliness to make accepting that he's worty of love difficult. Together they have a tough road that's filled with a deep need to accept themselves first.

I was on board for every bit that they were progressing. There were quite a few secrets that bit them in the bums and I can't say I was totally convinced that they were necessary. I can definitely see why they may have kept certain secrets, but some just felt like they belonged to someone else.

For instance, Evan. His arrangement before Finn wasn't untoward, that it was out of guilt was a little bit of a surprise but also not altogether untoward. But why Evan skirted around it, didn't say what needed to be said, and ended up doing what he did made no real sense for the person we were introduced to and got to know up to the point where that blew up in his face.

And Finn, I can see where a breach of privacy was absolutely out of order, but his reaction, his determination to stay mad and punish Evan the way he did felt so wrong. It didn't do anything to push their romance into a place it needed to be, nor did it really enlighten Evan because he already could tell how much he was in the wrong. It felt so uncomfortable for me to read that scene because it was vindictive, humiliating, hurtful, and a betrayal that was so unnecessary. I nearly put the book down to finish it later because I had such a hard time stomaching that part.

Evan's hints about a previous love was a bit confusing...was it love? Was it heartbreak? Was it pivotal? Was it blended up in the PTSD, homecoming, loss, and grief that followed with his military brothers? Those things felt unanswered. And adding in Evan's struggle with PTSD and his shocking confession to Finn after a big scene in his patrol car kind of came out of the blue and wasn't really something we were leading up to nor was it really revisited either. These things really brought me out of the story.

The reconciliation and ending were quite nice though and I appreciated how they came back together, the things they said to one another fit them both and went a long way to soothe my own ruffled feathers over some previous bits in the story.

Overall I liked it but I'm really not sure if I'll keep going with this series. I'll definitely be back for more from this author, but the other characters we've gotten to know through this book aren't ones that I find myself interested in at all. That being said, when this book got it right, it was really awesome. From the feels to the spice, this book really shone in those moments and they were what kept me reading.

99¢ on Amazon or FREE on KU!

Adverse Conditions: Reclaimed Hearts Book 1, Elle Keaton

While remaining the average length, or at least it feels average to all the other books from this author I've read, we're introduced to a whole lot of people, a lot of elements, a whole new town, and a couple that definitely has some high school angsty love to work out.

As the first book of the series we got something that had a lot of things to cover, as usual, but I think it might have been a little much to toss out all in the same book. Maybe some hints would have been better than how much intro we got into each of those elements because we ended up with a lot less of the natural evolution of Xavier and Vincent.

We got a little of everything here and I have to say, the half a star deduction is really only because we jumped from antagonistic bickering to spicy times to sweet and vulnerable to tentative dating to running scared and standing up to that fear, to their promise of an HEA all while learning about the danger stalking the town, a ridiculous ex, all the townspeople we're going to get to know, and a pup adoption. It was just too much to take us through the relationship evolution at a pace that left us feeling settled before we move on to, my sincere hope, is the property owner and our resident bat-wielding security guard.

I definitely loved the MC's and felt they were relatively well balanced. Vincent's run to "safety" without actually thinking clearly or logically was slightly predictable but annoyingly understandable. As a single mom I find myself wishing I could do the same thing when a potential romantic partner shows up and then I get dealt a blow from my ex or life in general. But it was Xavier's reaction to that, his determination to bring him back around, even if he needed a little push on the timing, was awesome. I was impressed and I have to say that I didn't actually think that's how that would play out because of the Xavier we met right in the beginning.

I'm invested and am really looking forward to diving back into the town and its impending peril and addictive love stories.

$5.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!

Dream: Jagged Edge Prequel, Remi Varlow

I wanted to love this book.  Opposites attract, biker hotness, sassy twink, bi discovery, redemption, bad boy spice, alphamallow...this book should have been my jam, but it just didn't hit me in the feels, make me yearn, fan myself, or engage me, instead I felt it fell short.

That's very, very much my minority opinion, of course.  So when I say it didn't hit me in the feels I think it was mostly due to the pacing and the lack of depth in addition to the utter nonsensical reactions by Dream.  Yes, I do understand his damage, I do understand that he's young, I really do.  But reading his over-the-top reaction to the rather contrived shock of Grave's ex just added ridiculous to the unnecessary.

While the tropes grabbed my attention, the story lacked what I needed for it to keep my attention.  This was the first book I've read by this author and while there were small gems that I did enjoy, I admit that I skimmed most of the book after realizing the grit, darkness, and stark yearning in Grave wasn't going to last beyond the opening scene and the "meet-not-exactly-cute".

*$2.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!