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How To Train Your Human Omega (Coveted Bonds #1)
How To Train Your Human Omega (Coveted Bonds #1)
Arden Fox | 2024 | LGBTQ+, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
very enjoyable read!
Independent reviewer for GRR, I was gifted my copy of this book.

I enjoyed this, a lot!

Clay is human, and Arcay is Aldar. Arcay is Alpha and unmated: he will be lucky to ever be, since omegas are very rare, but steppingon Clay's ship changes all that. He just needs to claim clay, and they can both be happy ever after, right? Oh hell no!

I loved that Clay fought Arcay at every turn, he was not gonna be strongarmed into smething he didn't know! Once he makes that clear to Arcay, though, Arcay does try. It's the other alphas on his ship that are sniffing around Clay, while Clay makes his mind up. Some confrontations occur, which push Clay into making a decision.

Lots of misunderstandings in this book due to the language difference but the best one came right at the end! I loved that, but not saying what it is. Generally they were amusing throughout the whole book though.

Steamy and smexy in places, dark and deadly in others. Some difficult topics hit upon, too. Funny and emotional too.

Some things are a little unfinished, I think. So, I hope things are tidied up in the next book.

From what I can see, this is the author's first book, or the first one under this name. In places that comes across BUT I can see that will change as the author continues to write. There is that book 2 planned, and I hope I can get to read it!

4 very good stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Ginger Snapping All The Way (Love In Mission City #1)
Ginger Snapping All The Way (Love In Mission City #1)
Gabbi Grey | 2021 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
the connection between Maddox and Ravi is instant and powerful.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarain, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 1 in the Love In Mission City series, but I am reading it AFTER book 3. SO I have spoilers for this book in that book. It did not detract from my enjoyment of this book, though. I will get to read book 2 asap.

Maddox doesn't like Christmas, but a friend asks a favour and he's left with the most gorgeous man he ever saw. Ravi just needs a place to stay til tomorrow to get the plane home to see his god daughter. But Mother Nature has other ideas and the few days they have snowed in make the world of difference to both man. But they live a continent apart, this was only supposed to be fleeting.

I really enjoyed this. Maddox is grumpy and Ravi is a match for that but not as a grump. Ravi is fighting a good deal with himself and his past, and his pain is not immediately clear. I liked that, as I did in book 3, one character's pain is front and centre, but it takes time for the other's to become clear.

The whole book takes place over a couple of days, and the connection between Maddox and Ravi is instant and powerful.

Now I need to read book 2, Stanley's Christmas Redemption. Stanley is Maddox' ex, and he gets a bum wrap here. I have a feeling that there is more to his story than Maddox says.

4 very VERY good stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
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Merissa (14009 KP) rated First in Books

Apr 8, 2026  
First
First
K.C. Wells | 2026 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
FIRST is a standalone age-gap romance between Mike and Tommy. Mike is older and an established porn star. Tommy is younger, just finding his feet, and from a very religious family. This could have gone all kinds of ways wrong. Instead, you get a cinnamon roll-type book that touches on hard subjects with sensitivity.

There were so many good points to this book: the slow but steady start, the family vs. found family, friends, jobs, and age difference. All of it was handled brilliantly. Tommy and Mike are just a pair of guys that you want to squidge. They are so cute, especially together.

Of course, with Tommy's upbringing and Mike's job, you know what the angst is going to be about, but once again, I thought it was handled perfectly. I did choke slightly when Mike took Tommy to the studio, but what a perfect way to show it wasn't real! They had their future planned out (after a few bumps in the road), and I would have loved to have been with them as it came into reality, but that's just me being greedy.

There is a great supporting cast of characters, from colleagues to old lovers and new adoptive moms, all adding to the story. This was a great read that I thoroughly enjoyed, which kept me turning the pages. Definitely recommended by me.

** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 8, 2026
  
My Way West: Real Kids Traveling the Oregon and California Trails
My Way West: Real Kids Traveling the Oregon and California Trails
Elizabeth Goss | 2021 | Children, History & Politics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My Way West tells the story of real kids that traveled the trails across the west. The children told the stories and through their quotes and paragraphs about how folks decided to move west—the journey across the Oregon trails, California Trails, and Momon trails.

The kids told these journeys on the trails through the images and how life was on the trails. Children will be able to learn about the life and history of the US and the Oregon trails. This book shows tragedy and how everyone came together and helped each other along the way. Children can learn about this and American history by reading this book, not of it but a good glimpse of it.

I enjoy learning about the western expansion and the Oregon trails. I am one of those kinds of readers. I was learning about history through books and how life may have been back then—the dangers of it. When reading this book, I read the quotes first and then the information on the page. Tough, you can read it by doing the significant info about the journey or the topic that was talked about and then the quotes after. It doe not really make a difference in what way you read it. I enjoy that. There is no right way to read this book.

I like the focus was on the actual kids that traveled the Organ and California Trails. The author does a beautiful job of that. This book is suitable for middle-grade readers who want to learn about American history. This book would be an excellent book to have in classrooms as well.
  
City of Betrayal
City of Betrayal
Victoria Thompson | 2023 | Mystery
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Observing the War of the Roses
It's August of 1920, and the fight to ratify the nineteenth amendment giving women the right to vote has come down to Tennessee. Everyone thinks that, among the states that haven’t voted on it yet, the best chance to pass it will be here. Elizabeth Bates and her mother-in-law have been asked to go to Tennessee and help with the lobbying of state representatives to get it passed. Gideon joins them as well. When the three arrive, they quickly see the see of various color roses, those for and against ratification. But can they do anything to make a difference in the vote?

Normally, I love this author’s books, so I picked this book up without paying too much attention to what it was about. However, this one didn’t live up to her usual standards. I have a feeling she was so fascinated by the real life stuff she uncovered while doing research she tried to fit it all into a novel. The problem is the result reads more like a history book than a novel, and Elizabeth and the others get involved in mini episodes without having an overall plot to drive us other than will the amendment get passed or not. Several supporting characters show up for cameos, and even the three main characters feel flat. If you are a fan of the author, know what to expect going in. If you are new to her, don’t judge her by this book, but pick up some of her other books and you’ll get caught up in them.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Apr 3, 2022  
Sneak a peek at the literary fiction novel ODD BIRDS by Severo Perez and read a deleted scene from the book on my blog. Enter the giveaway for a chance to win your own autographed copy of the book - 2 winners!

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
The year is 1961. Seventy-year-old Cosimo Infante Cano, a Cuban-born artist in need of inspiration, follows his lover to Texas in what was to be a temporary sabbatical from their life in France. Unexpectedly, he finds himself stranded in San Antonio, nearly penniless, with little more than the clothes on his back and an extraordinary pocket watch. His long hair and eccentric attire make him an odd sight in what he has been told is a conservative cultural backwater.

Cosimo’s French and Cuban passports put a cloud of suspicion over him as events elsewhere in the world play out. Algeria is in open revolt against France. Freedom Riders are being assaulted in Mississippi, and the Bay of Pigs debacle is front-page news. Cosimo confronts nightmares and waking terrors rooted in the horror he experienced during the Great War of 1914–1918. His friends—students, librarians, shopkeepers, laborers, lawyers, bankers, and even a parrot—coalesce around this elderly French artist as he attempts to return to what remains of his shattered life.

His new friends feel empathy for his impoverished condition, but his unconventional actions and uncompromising ethics confuse them. He creates charming drawings he refuses to sell and paints a house simply for the pleasure of making a difference. In the process he forever alters the lives of those who thought they were helping him.