December 2020 – In Between the Pages

K Webster-Sheriff’s Secret

This is the year’s last K Webster book. Sheriff’s Secret is the first in a new world, and the next book that comes out in this series is from Misty Walker, next week. It’s an MM series and it takes place in a little town in Maine. I live in a little town in Maine, and I have to say my little town isn’t nearly this exciting.

We have Jax. He’s the sheriff, a second generation sheriff, of Brigs Ferry Bay. His father, who was sheriff before him, is now the mayor and expects great things from Jax, and puts Jax under a lot of stress and pressure. He never really approves of his son, and Jax just works harder. He goes out with the women his mother sets him up with, and he tries to keep the order. Jax has his best friend, Cato, who runs a pet grooming business on the second floor of the building the sheriff’s office is in. And he has the ex he keeps obsessing over. The problem is that is ex isn’t an ex-girlfriend, he’s an ex-boyfriend, and they had to keep their relationship secret. When Kian came out, that ended their relationship. But that doesn’t keep Jax from wanting him, even though he’s so far into the closet that he has pulled the closet door in behind him and is in another closet. Jax may hate having to hide himself, but he feels like that’s the only thing he can do.

On this particular day, he and Cato are headed to the Chamber of Commerce meeting where Dante, who is from NYC and trying to put up a B&B, is supposed to show up. Jax is pretty positive that Dante is the devil, and he doesn’t want Dante around, because that means that all the tourists will invade and that will change little Brigs Ferry Bay in bad ways.

Dante, along with his sister and younger brother, have come to Maine to open a B&B after their father died. They want to get away from all the memories of home, and Maine seems like the place to do it. But, they’ve not had a whole lot of luck in getting anyone to actually, you know, like them. Obstacles and roadblocks keep getting thrown up in their way. On the night of the Chamber of Commerce meeting, he lays his eyes on the hot sheriff, and realizes that the guy is closested, and oh, it’s going to be so fun to fuck with him. And, oh, maybe fuck him too.

OK, as a person from away who moved to Maine, I have some things to say. One is that Mainers are delightful and friendly people. Second is that if you were born away, you are always from away. We moved up here when my son was 7, he’s more a Mainer than anything else, but he’s still from away. That’s the way it is in a lot of places, so that’s not just Maine. Also, small towns are small towns are small towns, and people are always going to be all up in your business.

With that said, let’s move on. I like, hate, and feel sorry for Jax. I can’t imagine being so worried about hiding who you are and having to keep all that hidden. I understand his reasons for it, and they make me mad. I’m not going to blame him for those at all. Coming out is a very personal journey, and you do it in your own time and in your own pace, and if you aren’t in a safe physical or mental space, then you do what you have to do. I like how devoted he is to making sure that he is doing the best he can for his town, and how he is when he’s with Cato. I kind of hate him for the way that he acts about Kian. But, again, that’s a really complex area.

Dante is a really interesting character. He loves his family. He’s the guardian of his younger brother, since he’s only 15, and he’s trying to do his best, but there have been all kinds of changes, and no one can handle all those changes. I think that Dante is doing really well. I do think that there are times when he kind of loses sight of the new culture he’s moved into and tries to do everything the NYC way and not work within the BFB way. Of course, I think that the people of BFB could definitely have worked harder to make people feel welcome.

I can’t wait for the next books in the series. I have some thoughts as to who is going to end up with whom.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Jane Henry-Tully

Tully is the last book Jane’s Irish mafia series, and as it goes, I think it works really well. It ties everything up in a nice way, but not in an overly neat way, and I think that there is enough room so that Jane could still stick in some updates in there, if she wanted. And it’s not like I would complain if she did. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading her world.

So, we have Tully. We’ve seen him in other books. He’s screwed up in the past, but now he’s one of the trusted inner circle of the McCarthy Clan. (I wasn’t sure of the elapsed time of the series, but there’s a decade between the first book and now.) The Clan has been through a lot, and Tully has been there supporting his clan and his brothers through that. Now, he’s still doing everything he is supposed to, but he’s also fascinated with McKenna.

McKenna is a teacher at the Clan’s school, teaching world history. Her mother was married to a member of the Clan before he died. Now McKenna and Tully have an on again and off again relationship. They are combustible when they are put together, and when I say combustible, they might as well nickname them Nitro and Glycerin. McKenna has a temper, and she’s really independent, and doesn’t want to be owned by any man, so while she really likes Tully’s dominance, it does cause them to have arguments.

They are heading into an on again right now, as McKenna meets Tully at the Craic. They start their encounter, and then Tully leaves the room. He plans to come back, as it’s part of the fun between the two of them, but when he gets back to the room, she’s gone. Of course, being a man of the Clan, Tully is worried that she’s been taken, so there are all kinds of people looking for her. What really happened is that McKenna snuck out and was planning on getting into a cab and showing up at Tully’s house. What she didn’t plan was Tully bribing the cabbie and basically kidnapping her and having his way with her. But, while he was having his wicked way, other, more dire, things were happening to the Clan.

I really like McKenna, most of the time. I understand wanting to be independent, because, well, that’s me to a T. But there are times when being independent isn’t a good thing. Or at least, not so headstrongly independent. I think that there are times when her independent streak hurt her, and may have made McKenna more naive and blind than she might otherwise have been. She was so steadfast on doing what she wanted, she didn’t pay attention to anything else or she just disregarded how her actions would affect others. See above shenanigan for example. She likes Tully and what he does for her, but she doesn’t always like his highhandedness, or what she sees as that.

Tully is a good man. He isn’t just a good man by Clan standards, which he is that, but he’s also just a good man. He’s concerned about his family and friends, about his community, and he will do what he needs to do to keep everything safe. And he consideres McKenna his. The one problem with that is that McKenna doesn’t always agree with him. He is, I think, a smidge more dominating than some of the other brothers, and I think that he’s also a bit domineering at times, and yes, I think there’s a difference.

OK, that’s all for this one. Nothing below the pic today. Go check it out! Happy reading!

K Webster-Sheriff’s Secret Available Now!

From USA Today bestselling author K Webster comes a
steamy, emotional, enemies-to-lovers small-town MM romance!

The past was all he could see…until him.

When you’re the sheriff of Brigs Ferry Bay, certain things are expected of you.
Marry a local girl, settle down, have a few kids. You know, the small-town dream.
But I’ve got a secret I’m terrified will get out.

I’m gay.
Not bi. Not curious. Not confused.
Just gay.
So, settling for that dream won’t be happening.

If this secret gets out, the people I serve and protect, especially my father, won’t be accepting.

I’m not brave like my high school sweetheart, Kian.
The day he came out was the day I had to let him go, and with it, love.

I’ve done a great job of pretending I’m perfectly fine being single. Until a villainous and annoyingly charming new B&B owner, Dante Kincaid, rolls into town. The spark between us is electric and undeniable. He wants to give me a taste of what he has to offer, and better yet, he vows to be discreet. I’m too selfish to refuse.

But my secret is still a heavy burden, leaving me handcuffed to expectations and unable to fully grasp what I want–him. History has a way of repeating itself, but this time around, with Dante, it’ll hurt a lot worse.

I have to decide if I’m going to let love slip away again or if I’m going to finally fight for it.

Brigs Ferry Bay is a steamy MM romance series.
Fall in love with the charming small-town gay romances of Brigs Ferry Bay.

While each book can be read as a standalone, to get the full experience, they’re best read in order.
Sheriff’s Secret ━ http://mybook.to/sheriffssecret
Kian’s Focus ━ http://mybook.to/KFWW

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!
http://mybook.to/sheriffssecret

Preorder the next book in the Brigs Ferry Bay series!
Kian’s Focus ━ http://mybook.to/KFWW

Add the Brigs Ferry Bay series to your TBR:
Sheriff’s Secret ━ https://bit.ly/sheriffsecret
Kian’s Focus ━ https://bit.ly/kiansfocus

Meet K Webster

K Webster is a USA Today Bestselling author. Her titles have claimed many bestseller tags in numerous categories, are translated in multiple languages, and have been adapted into audiobooks. She lives in “Tornado Alley” with her husband, two children, and her baby dog named Blue. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and researching aliens.

Connect with K Webster
Website | https://www.authorkwebster.com/
Goodreads | https://bit.ly/grkwebster
Amazon | https://amzn.to/32Il7OK
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Newsletter | https://www.authorkwebster.com/newsletter/

Leann Ryans-Hired to Breed

This is the 3rd book in Leann’s Hired series. And I’m really here for it. I really enjoy the way that the omegaverse trope works in this particular world, and I think that Hired to Breed really emphasizes it, and we get to see where things might be changing.

Since it’s been a while since we’ve been in this world, let me do a quick refresh. In this world, alphas are isolated from society. When boys exhibit alpha traits, generally when they are teens, they are taken from their families and sent to Alpha Camps, where they finish growing up, get schooled, all that. Some of the guys stay in camps and do construction work, logging, all that kind of stuff. Others will go to the various stud houses to act as a breeder or to help an omega through her heat, or be trained as personal security. But basically, they spend the rest of their lives in an Alpha Camp, isolated from the rest of society, not having a family of their own, and only able to see their birth families for a limited amount of time. Of course, that changes if they manage to bond with someone, but there are regulations around that too. Omegas are in a better place when it comes to the world, but basically, the entire world is designed for betas, and omegas and alphas are just tolerated, or worse.

In this world, we have Annalise. She is an omega, who was born to betas and has a beta sister. Annalise wants to have a baby, but she doesn’t want a mate or a man around. She can do it herself. Her sister, who Annalise is close to, wants her to find a beta to have a child with. Annalise has decided that what she’s going to do is contract with a breeder. He’ll service her through her heat, and then stay with her during her pregnancy since omegas need the alpha father there during the pregnancy. Annalise didn’t know that part and it came as a surprise to her. And so it meant that she had to come up with a plan for that.

Liam is the stud that she chose. There was just something about him that appealed to her when she saw his picture. Then she found out more about him, and she was even more determined that he would be her breeder. One of his big selling points is that he is very family oriented and one of his brothers already had children, so that would be good.

When Annalise found out that she had to stay around the alpha father, she found out that she could stay at Eden, which is technically an Alpha Camp, but practically it’s a place where all dynamics are equal. She gets an apartment for her and Liam to stay at.

I really felt for Annalise. I really just wanted to just jump into the book and give her so many hugs. She has to have so much control over her life because it’s the only way that she’s been able to survive the chaos of her younger years. And when we are talking about Annalise’s past, I think that chaos is the right term for what we learn about her. I really want to dig up her mother and kill her again, so there’s that. There are things about Annalise I really relate to, and I thought that she was doing so well to be at the stage where she was. She’s just a really strong woman.

I think that Liam is really patient, especially when he really wants to just run in and make things better/different, but he makes himself go at a pace that is best for Annalise and not for him. I think that if he had done anything differently to how he did it, then Annalise would definitely have run far and hard away from him.

OK, that’s all for today. Nothing under the picture. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Check back after the New Year because I’m going to have a special giveaway from Leann for everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it! Happy Yule, Happy late Solstice, and Happy late Hannukah. I’m sure I’ve missed some winter holiday, so let’s stick that in there too. As I write this, it’s Thursday afternoon. I’m sitting and waiting for my son’s last Christmas pressent to come, it’s OK, he’s 25 and he already knows what it is. We’re also waiting for my last two presents from him to me, but I’m over 25, and I know what they are. They are all supposed to be out for delivery today. I’m also trying to convince him to walk the 1/4 mile up to the mailbox to check the mail. He won’t do it.

On the actual Friday, I’ll be sitting here and hoping that our power doesn’t go out until after our ribs and pie get cooked. We’re supposed to have 50+ degree weather with rain and 40+ MPH winds, sooo…. I have all my battery banks charged, loads of water, and non-perishables.

As of when I’m writing this, Goodreads says that I’ve read 790 books this year. My goal is 700, so I’ve beat my goal again. It’s actually more than that, by at least 6 books, because I have some ARCs I need to review, and some other books are still marked as currently reading even though I’ve read them. So, I’ll get those changed and reviewed.

Of those 790 books, there’s some that are rereads. I love a good reread because I find new stuff or it’s a way to let my brain process or I just need a good feel and I know that reading a particular book or series will give me what I need. There are a whole lot of new books in there too, some by new to me authors, some by old favorites. There are traditionally published books as well a indie books. There’s MM, MF, MMF, MFM, MM+. There’s romance, urban fantasy, science fiction, some fantasy, and some horror. There’s aliens, shifters, alphas, and omegas.

All that means that there are going to be all kinds of Best of recap episodes. I’m pretty sure that there are going to be some categories that I haven’t done before.

Anyway, I hope that you are all warm, safe, full, and loved during this holiday season. 2020 has been a fucking dumpster fire, but it’s nearly over, and 2021 will hopefully be better.

Jane Henry & Shanna Handel-Forever My Babygirl

Shanna and Jane put out Forever my Babygirl a couple of weeks ago, and it’s a nice story to read. It’s the latest book in the Vegas Daddies books, and I think that it’s the last one. Of course, my crazy brain may be crazy and remembering things that don’t really exist. It does happen. Anyway, this story is Rawley’s story. He is the brother from the first book, so it all ties in. Of course, everyone ties in with each other in here, in one way or another.

First, we have Rawley. He was with his brother’s ex, Tiffany, until she tried to screw over his brother, and her kicked her to the curb. And, she’s a serious piece of work and quite nasty. He’s decided that he’s going to give up his playboy ways and give up women. And so he does, for a little while. But then, he decides that he’s going to go to his friend Miranda’s escort service, Sugar Daddies, and pay for one night with an escort. He’ll get his rocks off and won’t catch feelings.

Then we have Emmeline. She’s a struggling med student, and struggling is the word. Her school is all paid for and she’s in the homestretch, but it’s all the other stuff, like food and rent, that she is having problems with. Her best friend Lexi’s sister, Miranda, runs an escort agency, and Emmeline figures she can do just one night, which is all she can fit into her schedule, and then have the money that she needs, especially if she moves in with Lexi. Which is what she’s going to do, and it’s almost all good, except for the fact that Lexi is incredibly allergic to cats, which means she can’t take her old cat, Mr. Whiskers, with her.

Anyway, Emmeline goes to Miranda and begs for one night, and since Miranda had just gotten a contract for just one night, that night, she says OK. So, Emmeline goes home and gets ready for her appointment with fate, who is named Rawley in this case.

I love Emmline’s confidence in this case. She showed up at Rawley’s door in a long coat, knee high boots, and lingerie. That is some supreme confidence. And she has no problem with the whole Daddy thing and acting seductive, until she falls into the hot tub. But, Rawley is there to make things all better.

I really like how caring Rawley has. I think that he really wants the best for Emmeline, and he’d really like that to be him. But from the very start, he really is protective and caring. I think that he’s defintely a born Daddy. He seems to take to it really well.

I really, really, really hate Tiffany. Really hate her.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Lee Savino-Mastered By the Berserkers

It’s been a while since we got to see some of Lee’s hot and hunky Berserkers, so I’m really happy to get back to it with Mastered By the Berserkers. This is the latest one in the Berserkers Bride series, which started by taking spaewives from a nunnery. This one runs concurrently with some of the other books (if I am recalling the timeline correctly, I didn’t go back and reread the entire series). (I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.)

SSo, we are finally getting to Sister Juliet’s story. She was the only one of the nuns to try to protect the young women in their care, and she got taken too. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she’s a spaewife, just like all the young women under her care are. When they got taken, there were a couple of Berserkers who paid her a lot of attention, Jarl and Fenrir. Any time that they saw that she needed something, that thing would just magically show up where she is. Once they finally got to the Berserkers’ mountain, many of the spaewives, especially the younger girls, live in one long house, under the care of Sister Juliet, who is a devoted Christian and who is deeply devoted to making sure that her young charges are safe, warm, and fed. Meanwhile, she’s hiding the fact that she is starting to feel the things that the other spaewives do.

Jarl and Fenrir know that she is their mate, but they’ve been careful aboout how they go about dealing with her. Their Alphas have made it very clear that the Berserkers aren’t to be just grabbing any spaewife that they want, it has to be the woman’s choice, and if things don’t happen that way, there will be hell to pay. So, they’ve been waiting for Sister Juliet, but one night, things come to a head, and they spirit her away. They take her far away to the other side of the mountain where they have built a house for her. Jarl and Fenrir are going to make her theirs now.

Like I said before, Juliet is a devout Christian, I mean, nun, right? Because of that, she has some issues with being with any man, let alone two men. Celibacy is a thing, and it’s a thing that she’s sure that she has to stick to, because she made a vow to her God. I think that she is a very good person. She really wants to stick with her beliefs, but Jarl and Fenrir have made it really obvious that she is their priority and that they really want her. She spends a lot of time really torn over how she feels over everything, and I can understand why she feels that way.

Jarl and Fenrir show just how much they have paid attention to Juliet, and how willing they are to give her what she needs and what she wants. I am really impressed by the measures that they are willing to go to so that Juliet will be happy. I truly approve of that.

I can’t wait for the next one in this series, because the Berserker Saga books were some of the first books I read when I started getting into indie books and romances back several years ago now. When I was a young tween, I read romance a lot. Harlequin was my friend, but I pulled away from that for a while, but now I mix romance in with all my other reading, in case you haven’t noticed, LOL.

I do think that the Alphas are just a teeny tiny hypocritical in this, and I’m glad that they get called on it, because they really should’ve been.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check out all these books, they are so awesome. Happy reading!

Winter Travers-Six-Gun

I’ve read several other of Winter’s MC books, so I was looking forward to seeing how she handled the RBMC. I mised her first book, so I’m going to have to go back and read it, especially after reading Six-Gun. The RBMC books go from really dark to light-ish. This one is more toward the light-ish side of the line. I mean, there’s still darkness going on, it is a MC book after all, but not as much as some others. So, let’s talk about this one, shall we? Now, I will say that there are some things that they talk about in this book that happened in the first book, so I am missing bits of the story, but not enough that it ruined my enjoyment of this one.

We start with Memphis. She has been staying with the Sacramento chapter of the RBMC because they rescued her from a terrible situation. Now she’s working as a bartender at a bar that the club owns. She goes from the clubhouse to the bar and back, and doesn’t do much else other than that, for lots of reasons. Six-Gun, one of the members, takes her back and forth to the club, and not only that, he stays there the whole time, staring at her. All Memphis can do is to ignore him and just pretend he doesn’t exist. It doesn’t always work, but she still tries.

Six-Gun (who Memphis eventually calls Six, so that’s what I’m going to call him from now on) is attracted to her, but it’s not just because of how pretty she is, because she is, but it’s also because of who she is. Before she was rescued, bad things happened, and after she got rescued, she stayed in her room for quite a while, and would cry and have nightmares. Six would sit outside her door all night, every night, in case she wanted to talk and in case she needed someone. Now he can’t stay away from her, but he’s willing to wait for her, no matter what.

I really like Six. He really pays attention to Memphis and what she wants, likes, and dislikes. He also is more than willing to wait to go at Memphis’ pace. I really like that he gives her that safe place and that space. It can’t necessarily be easy for him, because I think that he’s going to be so much more a man of action than someone who wants to sit back and just wait. Of course, that might actually be doing something, since he makes sure that Memphis knows that she’s in charge. Either way, I think that he was really good.

I also like Memphis. I think that she was really strong, and I like her discussion with her boss about finding herself again, and how her boss went through some shit. Finding yourself again after bad things have happened isn’t necessarily easy, and you may never again find the person you were before, but you can find bits of that person and bring them back.

Anyway, I could almost call this book comfortable and cozy, just because of the way that Memphis and Six interact, but of course, it isn’t really, I mean, MC book, right? But it is good, and I enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed it enough that I will continue to read her RBMC books.

OK, that’s all for this one today, and nothing under the picture today. Go check out the book, as well as all of Winter’s other books. If you like hilarious women, go check out Alice in Winter’s Fallen Lords books. Trust me, she’s so much fun.