Solid Yet Could Have Been Transcendental. If you've seen the 2016 movie Nerve, you have a pretty good idea what you're getting into here. The two are very similar in overall concept, though ultimately both use the common concept to speak to different issues. With this particular book, you get more into The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase's mantra - everyone has a price - even as the book tries in spits and spurts to discuss much weightier metaphysical topics. Hell, the book name drops Aquinas and Lewis and uses Thoth, Christ, Freud, and Heaphestus as characters! And while all of these add some interesting wrinkles to the overall tale, ultimately this book suffers from the same fate as Marcus Sakey's Afterlife. By this I mean that, as I said in the title, it is a solid action/ scifi book that could have been transcendental with a bit more care. Very much recommended.
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May 2025
Hot, Heavy, and Quick. For fans of the genre that like lots of hot action, a fair amount of angst - including an opening scene featuring an explosion in Afghanistan - and/ or a quick read... this book hits all three notes in spades. If you're a fan of MM romance, you'll likely enjoy this book. Very much recommended.
Solid Debut Romance. This is a solid second chance romance that happens to apparently be the author's debut. It does touch on some difficult subjects - sexual harassment in the work place primary among them - but it does a good job of working that element into the overall romance. (No, the harasser is not one of the couple.) Very much looking forward to more from this author. Very much recommended.
Another Solid HS Romance from Dallen. This one perhaps has a bit more internal drama than many of Dallen's stories, but overall is typical of her style - short ish (less than 200 pages on this one apparently) and Hallmarkie. She dives deeper into the issues her characters are facing - including new schools, new families, and other new dynamics - than she usually does, and it works well here. Very much looking forward to seeing more in this world. Very much recommended.
Solid Sexy Romance. This book hits pretty well all the notes one expects in a MM romance - decent story, a fair amount of sex, etc - and even hits a couple of tropes that are more widely popular, such as second chance, (ex) step family, enemies to lovers, wild and adventuresome vs nerdy and ... "locally oriented". I believe this is my first from this author, and if this is indicative of her style it is a good one to have. I'll likely be checking out more from her based on this tale. Very much recommended.
Mischief And Mirth. In this continuation of Evans' Brighthead Running Club series, we get the story we have been waiting on for a couple of books now - Julie and Cashman. And we learn some very startling things about Cashman throughout, but some of the biggest surprises are right up front... Excellent book, and one that can serve as an introduction to the series with only minimal spoilers at all. Very much looking forward to the next book in the series.
Solid Tale Solidly Told. This is a solid story of two women and two timelines. In 2018, a young lady is released from prison on parole on the condition that she restore a mural from the 1940s. In the 1940s, another young woman is painting this mural. The present day timeline is told in first person and the past timeline is told in third, which makes it easy to pick up and know which period you're in. I personally suffered some family tragedy and what felt like a pretty significant reading slump while reading this book, but I managed to get through it and finish the book within the month. And let me be clear, I do not feel that this book itself had anything to do with the slump, it really is a solid tale with an interesting curve at the end. Very much recommended.
Divergent Style Shows Strength As Storyteller. The singular best thing I can say about this book is that with its dramatic departure from the style and tone of the author's previous book The House With The Cypress Trees it truly shows just how great of a storyteller she is. This particular book is a drama with few laughs and a fair amount of heartbreak going back over two decades, with its overall story solidly rooted in the travails of the MeToo movement and anti-Big Pharma activism. For many, the reader's own thoughts on those two subjects will largely determine how you feel about the book, but speaking as someone who was leery of the book when I noticed it was diving towards MeToo stuff it actually turned out to be a solid, well balanced tale. Very much recommended.
Light And Fun - Mostly. In this installment of the Valentine's Inc Cruises MM romance series, we get paranormal author Pandora Pine's effort, and it is indicative of her stylings while only tangentially being related to her overall world. If you're like me and have been on many cruises, there's a lot here that will bring back your best memories - including Stingray City in Grand Cayman and the Magic Chair at Mahogany Bay. If you've never been on a cruise before, this is a good introduction to what ship life can be. If you've been curious about Pine but are a bit leery of paranormal stories, this is an excellent way to see how she tells a story while only having the barest mention of her normal schtick. (And btw, her paranormal stories are awesome, so you should try them anyway.) This is a somewhat standard ish romantic comedy in that there is obviously the fight right before the happily ever after, but really that is the only time this book really veers away from being as light and airy as a cruise is supposed to be. Excellent work, and I'm looking forward to more from both this series and Pine.
Stormy Cruise. This was probably the fastest read of the entire Valentine's Inc Cruises series, and one of the shortest in terms of page count. Very fun, mostly light, with a couple of solidly steamy scenes. And I really liked that it tackled seasickness and having named storms (tropical storm or higher) affect a cruise, as both do in fact happen from time to time. Yet again my first from an author involved in this project, and yet again won't be my last. Very much recommended.
Precise Shipping. This is the first book I've seen in the Valentine's Inc Cruises series to take on the actual staff, and it does an excellent job of showing the lives of the officers at least - at least the lives of two certain officers. :) Precise in details most normally miss (cruise ships don't actually use actual anchors much if ever any more) and plays with details when needed for the story (debarkation from one cruise is followed within minutes by embarkation of the next cruise, not the next day as shown here). But ultimately both the precision and the license are used very effectvely to tell a great story, and that is what matters the most. The brief descriptions of San Juan and St Thomas in particular are spot on in my experience in both ports, and even better is how well they serve the budding romance between these two. The scene where each realizes who the other is - after a relatively anonymous night together - is worth the price of the book alone, and Phoenix spins an amazing romance tale throughout the entirety of the book. As a romantic drama, one of the strongest in a truly excellent series, and very much recommended.
Quick Battles. This is an enemies to lovers tale that also happens to be a very fast read. Cournoyer does an excellent job of quickly showing just how much these two guys *don't* like each other... and then the hijinks ensue. Great tale of one man being burned by love and another not sure what he is coming together rather explosively. My first from this author, will not be my last. Very much recommended.
Brand New Characters Feel Ultra Deep. (And not always in a sexual way.) This is a MMM romance that is brand new yet feels like it is a continuation of a very deep series - and is very intriguing because of it. The dynamics of the setup of the story work well, then the rest of it falls into place in a very well paced shortish novella. My first from this author (somehow), will not be my last. Very much recommended.
This one time, NOT at band camp...<br/><br/>When Ryan Met Sawyer...<br/><br/>The universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has generally been regarded as a bad move.<br/><br/>If you enjoyed the trip down this rabbit hole that the top line being in the book sent my brain down and you like pop culture references like the end battles of Avengers: Endgame, the Battle of Winterfell from Game of Thrones, and others... you're going to love this book. So quit reading this review and go read the dang book already!
Rushed Shipping. In this second installment of the Valentine's Inc Cruises event, we get Ashe Winters' solid entry of a transatlantic back to back cruise - though curiously, Ashe never mentions the words "back to back" in relation to the cruise itself. The pacing is solid through most of the book, until we get to the end. At that point, Winters rushes to wrap up the various story lines rather than simply writing a second book to conclude them. Perhaps this is due to the nature of the project? Regardless, a solid MM romance featuring two very relatable characters. My first book from this author, but it will not be my last. Very much recommended.
Interesting Conclusion. The first thing to know about this book is that it really does need to be read second, after Charming the Cheerleader. Why? Because the timelines start at roughly the same points and you get two people's views on a lot of the same events - even while telling their own story about their own high school romance. Also, there are some pretty decent spoilers for Charming the Cheerleader if you attempt to read this book first, so be forewarned there. Beyond doing my best to ensure that you read this particular book second, I can tell you that they are told in a very similar style and both involve very similar topics and issues, though with a few particulars based on individual characters. In other words, all four of these people in these two couples have normal-ish high school issues, but the particular issues are specific to each individual. As always, if you're looking for a fairly light, low drama HS romance... Dallen has you covered. Very much recommended.
The Daily Show for Math. In this hilarious and sometimes tragic book about math in the real world - some instances discussed include the deaths of hundreds of people, but most discussions are of a humorous bent - Parker does a truly phenomenal job of showing just how easy it is to get math wrong, and what can happen in the real world in that situation. From bridge collapses to programming errors to planes running out of fuel midair and all kinds of other situations, Parker truly does an excellent job of looking across the spectrum of math errors and showing both what should have been the correct result and what happened with the wrong one. Truly hilarious, and very much recommended.
Solid NYC Action / Mystery. This was truly an excellent action/ mystery book centered in NYC and surrounding areas. Full of rich and disturbing (and apparently real) history, this book does an excellent job of continuing the evolving mythos Wood has created with these characters while still being a mostly self-contained (and thus easy for newbies to enter) story itself. Very much recommended.
The Cop Becomes The Accused. This is the latest chapter in Pine's long running and expansive Cold Case Psychic universe, back in the "main" storyline once again. And as with most of these tales, it can work as a first book for you, if you don't mind coming in and already seeing an established relationship(s), rather than the initial building of one. In this particular tale, Ronan and Tennyson's relationship is put to its biggest test to date when Ronan walks in on Tennyson kissing another man... and that man is dead hours later with his blood all over Ronan's body. A solid look - from the eyes of a cop - at the issues of when a cop becomes the accused, though in at least a slightly Hallmarkie way. (ie, this *is* still a romance book, and follows RWA conventions to that point.) Yet another great entry, and very much recommended.
Partisan Populist Polemic for Independents. I like that Simon opens the book with a note that if you are yourself a hyper partisan that thinks either side or the other is completely evil, this book isn't for you. <br/><br/>The things Simon discusses in this book are things that I know for a fact many, perhaps most, Americans have not thoughtfully considered - or even considered at all. Sure, some of them are hotter button issues than others, such as his decrying of Citizens United - a common complaint of the left yet a case which is misunderstood by most and even outright misinterpreted in this very text. But others are much more esoteric, largely only thought of when the person themselves gets hit by the problem, such as ballot access - a process by which the "two" Party System in the US actively limits, indeed even places extraordinary hurdles to, the ability for anyone other than themselves to get on the ballot for election for most offices in this country.<br/><br/>Ultimately, however, Simon has crafted a partisan populist polemic for Independents that while useful as a conversation starter has numerous flaws in reasoning - even while being very well documented in his statements. However, even then there are, in the infamous words of Mark Twain, "lies, damn lies, and statistics", and Simon's constant refrain that "60% of Americans support each of these initiatives" is a bit disingenuous at best. And I've seen some of the very polls he was citing, often used them in my own debates! (See below) Still, with the various issues he brings up, most of which won't be actively discussed by the various Presidential candidates or talking heads this year, this book deserves to be read and discussed even given its myriad flaws. Recommended.<br/><br/>With all of this said, allow me to note my own history, briefly, so that you can judge for yourself if I may fall into the trap of hyperpartisanship myself. I grew up as a Republican and voted in 2004 for Georgia's Defense of Marriage Act. By 2006 I was already fed up with "both" Parties and trying to find my own way. I began reading *every* Party's platforms and looking to what resonated most with me. I officially joined the Libertarian Party as a dues paying member the day after Barack Obama was elected President in 2008, and within 2 yrs I would: be a member of the Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party of Georgia, found a local affiliate (county Party) of the LP-Ga, run for nonpartisan rural small town City Council 2x, found a libertarian-leaning political blog, host the biggest event of the 2010 Georgia election cycle in terms of number of Statewide candidates present, be recognized 2x by the Georgia House of Representatives for my work in open government, video local County Commission and City Council meetings and put the unedited video on YouTube, run a Facebook group working for equal ballot access for Georgia citizens, serve as the Libertarian Party of Georgia's Legislative Director, recruit a Statewide candidate for the LP-Ga, and probably a few things I've forgotten about in the decade since. However, by 2012 I had left active political activism altogether, and when I moved to Florida in 2017 I officially registered to vote as "No Party Affliation" - the way Florida encodes "Independent" status. (No State I had previously lived in actually registered voters by Party.)