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    Survival: Wicked Forest

    Survival: Wicked Forest

    Games and Entertainment

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    App

    Survival: The Wicked Forest. After awakening in a forest cold and helpless, your mission is to...

    Apotheca

    Apotheca

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    Tabletop Game

    Players craft potions in a secret marketplace. Hide ingredients to deceive opponents, and use...

Once Upon A Goth Dog Solstice
Once Upon A Goth Dog Solstice
RL Merrill | 2024 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's cute and sweet and warm and fuzzies!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 8 in the Once Upon A Holiday series, a multi author series joined ony by the Hook's Book Nook Travelling Library, which pops up in all the books. I have not read any of those, and they can all be read as stand alone books.

Luther is suffering after being medically discharged from the Marines, fostering his daughter and trying to make ends meet. Meeting Doug at the local craft market, and the pair embark on a tentative relationship, that sees Doug away from long periods. Can they make it work?

I liked this, a good deal.

It's sweet and cute, its warm and fuzzies and low angst. Not ever so explicit, but I didn't miss that. It's more about the budding relationship between these two, than the smex. I liked that it was low steam, to be honest.

I kinda didn't feel their connection at the beginning though. I felt they met, met again and then jumped into bed together. It just felt a little off, to ME, that's all. The connection DOES build, just that intial bit didn't quite work for me.

LOVED the way Luther introduces Mila and Doug, and how they all get along with Violet, Luther's sister. She has a story to tell, I'm sure! Oh and Oscar! Children and dogs for the win!

A good read, one that passed a very dull shift at work. One that made me smile.

4 stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
On Warmer Shores
On Warmer Shores
Alex J Adams | 2024 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
stunning 5 star read!
Independent reviewer for BookSirens, I was gifted my copy of this book.

I've followed Ms Adams from the very beginning, and I can honestly say, I'm loving the way she is honing her craft.

This is a step out of her comfort zone, I think, and I bloody LOVED it!

Vince has watched his best friend fall in love with someone else, and an invitation to the wedding is just a step too far for his broken heart. Jetting off to France for a week seemed like a good idea. Meeting Sylvain seemed the answer to his prayers, right?

I loved this, I really did.

It's sweet and smexy, emotional and funny, and everything inbetween, while being a delightful tale of two men meeting and falling in love, when they least expect it!

I did NOT like Theo, even after it all went down. The man really couldn't see who was under his nose the whole time and he couldn't see what an idiot he was getting.

Loved the best friend, Lexi but hated the position that Theo put her in with Vince.

The best bit? Sylvian letting Vince set the pace of their physical relationship. I loved that we never actually got to The Main Event! I mean, its steamy and lots of smexy times, but The Main Event never happens, and I actually LOVED that, I really did.

It's a much lighter read from Ms Adams, and I loved the direction this took.

Amazing read, thank you!

5 full and shiny stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
I have enjoyed every book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series by Mercedes Lackey, and I eagerly waited for her to cover my favorite fairy tale, that of Beauty and the Beast. This book combines my favorite fairy tale with Little Red Riding Hood and a dash of Cinderella, all with its own unique twist characteristic of the series. While I had the ending predicted quite early in my reading, I still enjoyed following the character development and watching it all play out.
Bella is very much the modernized damsel in distress, as she finds a way to do her own saving, and chooses who she would rather fall in love with, rather than let the Tradition dictate her actions. As she learns about the manipulations of the Tradition, she also realizes her own way of unconsciously dealing with it and the power she has over it. I loved her intelligence and creativity in solving the daily problems that riddled her life, especially with the invisible servants at the Duke's residence.
Duke Sebastian is an interesting character -- a wizard werewolf with hermit-like habits -- he is the direct opposite of the type of character I expected to play the role of "Beast" in this fairy tale, but I like him all the same. His devotion to his craft makes him absentminded about everything else in his life, and except for when he is a werewolf, he likely would not hurt a fly. Bella's interactions with him draw him out and show him that he can have so much more in his life.
I also enjoyed Godmother Elena's part in the book, along with her mirror servant, as they cemented this book into the series and reminded me of some of the details that I had forgotten from previous books.