Happy day-after-Christmas, y’all! I’m determined to get these reviews up before the end of the year so I can start (mostly) fresh for 2016. Here’s a batch of more romances I read during November. (At this point I regret not reviewing any of these back in November. SO MUCH WRITING.)
Psychic Moon – M.D. Grimm ★
This is another book I probably should’ve DNF’d, but it was so short I just kept going. Plus the premise was really cute: a veterinarian and a wolf shapeshifter in love with each other, but too shy to say anything until weird stuff starts happening and/or they’re both put in danger. The writing, however, was not enjoyable and the actual story was extremely dissatisfying both emotionally and plot-wise. Bleh.
Tatterdemalion – Anah Crow & Dianne Fox ★★★
A very intriguing fantasy set in a world with mages and shapeshifters, creepy people who live in magical woods, a conspiracy (which I didn’t entirely understand), and also romance! I loved the characters, their adorable romances, and the little bits of worldbuilding. Occasionally, however, I felt like chunks of the background info were cut out (possibly for page count reasons?) which lead to feeling like the story wasn’t as complete as it maybe should have been.
The Keeper – Hollis Shiloh ★★★
A very sweet short story about a lighthouse keeper who finds a magician washed up on the beach. There’s some pining and a tiny mystery, and it’s just completely adorable.
The Englor Affair – J.L. Langley ★★½
A scifi world based around the British Regency period! How could I NOT read it, am I right? And it’s basically everything I wanted except for the writing, which could’ve used a little more polish. Two princes meet and fall in love, after some contrived misunderstandings and way too much involvement with dirty jockstraps. The sexytime scenes didn’t do much for me,1 and the writing has a few iffy spots,2 but it was, overall, a fun scifi romance and I’d read the others in the series for sure. I would recommend starting with the first book, as there are events alluded to in this book that happened in that one, and it’s kind of confusing without the original context.
Cost of Repairs – A.M. Arthur ★★★½
Two dudes try to fix up a house, and in doing so fix up themselves (a bit) and fall in love. I adore it when characters build a super emotional connection before getting physical, and I liked how the sexytimes between the heroes weren’t completely perfect– they talked about what they liked and didn’t like and such. Communication! Huzzah! Some of the plot elements were a little OTT, but it worked in the context of the story.
The Lonely Drop – Vanessa North ★★★
A short story romance about second chances! Second-chance romances are my JAM and this one was pretty darned good. It involves friends-to-lovers, and pining, and working through problems in order to get a happy ending. Woohoo! (And it’s free, too!)