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Hades
Hades is the King of the Underworld.
He has ruled for centuries. He has lost everything more than once.
And yet — when Alex appears — something inside him remembers before his mind does.
Power does not protect him from love. It only makes the choice harder.
So... I had another ARC.
Book Review
The Sky Pirate's Stowaway
By TJ Rose and Michele Notaro
It was good. Here's what the cover/ blub says:
Three rules for surviving aboard The Black Wraith
Rule 1: Never dare to challenge the wicked captain.
Rule 2: Never reveal your secret magical powers.
Rule 3: Absolutely don’t fall in love with the mysterious, unfairly attractive first mate…
Kaspar
How in the world did I end up in the cargo hold of the most notorious pirate ship ever?
Holy phoenix tails, I’m in trouble.
Running from the law is bad enough, but now I’m terrified of the scary pirate captain and his petrifying crew. One wrong move, and I'm sea serpent bait.
I’m not sure I can find my place among this crew of cunning pirates. But then there’s him—Maximus Blackwood. The first mate, known as The Reaper to all others, pulls me in with his sad eyes, his hidden kindness, and those rare smiles he saves only for me. Between battles and secret meetings in the crow's nest, something undeniable grows between us.
I should keep away. But when he looks at me like I'm the freedom he's been searching for, how can I possibly resist?
Maximus
I found him in the cargo hold.
Pale skin, freckles, and a defiance that outweighed his fear.
For years, I've kept The Black Wraith's aeronauts in line, my reputation as The Reaper ensuring our survival. I don't have time for distractions—especially not stowaways with secrets and an irritating talent for seeing through me.
Kaspar Ward is trouble personified. He doesn't belong in our world of air battles and plunder, asking questions, watching me with those perceptive, pretty green eyes.
Now I find myself teaching him how to survive Captain Van Jagger's brutal command while fighting my own battle—keeping my growing fascination with him hidden from a crew that shows no mercy to weakness.
Danger and desire collide in The Sky Pirate's Stowaway, the first book in The Black Wraith series, an MM romantasy which will sweep you off your feet and into the endless skies.
Let me be honest guys. I'd just finished reading Little Red Riding Hood by TJ Rose, and was really impressed. I got a news letter asking for ARC readers and signed up for it. I WAS UNPREPARED. I went in to this blind.
Anyway here's the cover design.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a ARC for me, I am grateful for the opportunity.
I liked the book. Kas and Max are compelling characters. Max has a troubled history that deeply effects how he navigates his life and also an image he must uphold to both ensure his own survival, but the safety of his crew. Kas in the other hand needs to protect himself, his identity and his family.
The brutality of some crew members juxtaposed with camaraderie of the others is kind of disturbing and makes for a discordant vessel set in various even more treacherous settings from nefarious ports to treacherous landscapes. This books paints piracy the grim light it deserves with monsters from myths as some unholy spice that people would bravely talk about until it appears on their plate.
And somehow Max and Kas learn to love and trust each other.
What I have not mentioned even though this was easily a 4 star book, was that it was a slow read for me. It took over 49% before I was hooked. The world building was very rich. The characters are rounded even the villains are evil to the core and you can see their motivations. Not just flat evil people, they are terrifying, greedy, untrustworthy people that will harm you for fun. There was lots of action, budding romance, stolen moments, growing friendships, lots of great things that make a fantastic book. It just did not kick in for me until 49%.
And then I couldn't put it down. NOT AT ALL. HOLY CRAP I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. It was like a switch was flipped, and I was super engaged, I wanted Kas and Max to prevail. The HEA was coming for them and that's that.
So color me mad that this is a HFN, not even a good HFN. We have us a cliffhanger friends. I'm here for it.
The Sky Pirate's Stowaway by TJ Rose and Michele Notaro is Available now on KU and in Paperback form here:
Book Review
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN LITTLE MINERS
By Kit Barrie
The conclusion to GriMM Tales series yall, and the end of my time on the ARC team. I totally recommend them if you can find them in tangible form. The covers are pretty.
Here is the Cover and the Blurb again:
Once upon a time, a beautiful prince met seven little men.
Obsessed with beauty and perfection, The Evil Queen did not anticipate the day that her only son would become fairer than she. Desperate to save himself, Prince Makellos flees into the woods. Luck brings him to the house of seven little men exiled to work in the mines, digging gems for The Queen. Makellos finds that they need him as much as he needs them, and love blossoms in the little hideaway.
But the jealous Queen will stop at nothing to kill the son who has grown to outshine her. Will the seven little men be able to protect the prince they’ve become so fond of, or will evil triumph at last? Will everyone in Falchovari finally get their Happily Ever After?
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Four Stars
For the conclusion of The GriMM Tales this was a rather anticlimactic but tidy end. If this was a stand alone book then it was a good ending.
Snow/Makellos is basically sunshine and innocence personified. I get that, yes, he has some sense that his mother is evil. I also get that. The toxicity and purposful isolation is obvious. He is smart enough to see the set up coming but remains hopeful, poor guy.
What I do not get is the transition between existing with learning to live with these men and becoming physical with them so soon. Is it forced proximity? Live for today,? It had only been 2-3weeks since he left the castle, 1-2 weeks since the attack from the Shadow, and now we're engaging in very steamy (I'm not at all complaining) scenes of nasty nasty. I'm happy for it, it just doesn't make sense. They are lovely men though, kind hearted, and just trying to make the best of their situation. Maybe that kindness is the key?
Now the next one made sense, and I am HERE FOR IT!!! But for the first one, I need clarification.
Queen Schon seems so irrational. She seemed formidable but flawed in Rumple (the last book) but in this one she seems unhinged, and sloppy. I'm not sure if it is madness, or greed, or complacency. But I find it hard to believe that she ruled for so long if this is how she behaved. She would have been taking L's the whole time.
Her eventual end is fittng at the hands of her son. But she is basically a spoiled child being played like a spoiled child and not the cunning powerful fearsome being she has been built up to be.
I expected more for the series. The two most powerful beings don't even cross paths to help defeat her. Unless there's an extra, I haven't received.
Prince, now King Makellos assume his new role and the world is a better place. But I am unhappy with this.
This is good. I wanted great.
The paperback and hardcover have not been made available YET, but the KU version will be available on October 23, 2025.
Here's my next book review, and I texted my friend and said "sexy time with food." She went on Bluesky and said that lived rent free in her head for a whole day.
Book Review
Rumpelstilzchen by Sam Northman
Rumpelstilzchen, ruthless enforcer for the Queen and powerful shadow geist, is missing an important part of himself—his Heart.
Enslaved by the evil Queen through black magick, Rumpelstilzchen’s only shot at freedom is to find his Heart—and claim it. What he doesn’t expect is for it to beat inside the beguiling son of a miller.
Boy is imprisoned in the palace cells for his family’s failure to pay the royal tithe, and unless he can deliver on his father’s impossible promise and spin a sack of straw into gold, he will die at sunrise. Awaiting his fate, Boy thought his biggest problem would be the Queen coming after his head, but when her Shadow comes for his heart instead, he finds himself caught in a lethal attraction.
Having expected to simply carve his Heart from the prisoner’s chest, Rumpelstilzchen’s plans are thwarted when his shadow magick wraps protectively around the sun-kissed skin of the beautiful young man.
Can Rumpelstilzchen find a way to break free of the black magick, claim his Heart, andkeep his precious human alive?
Please bring an emotional support candle, this darker romance features a shadow daddy in search of his Heart, the stank confines of a prison cell, and the brave Boy who would risk it all for their happily ever after…
Perfect Book
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book is sensual.
So you have to understand that there is a famine throughout the series. When there are secreted sumptuou seconds with stolen strawberries, you have to give the autho credit. Boy is a study of guileless submission; he's like the sweetest honey to Rumple.
He's an enigma, a treasure, and just out right special. Everything about Boy rocks Rumple's world and it gives him yey another purpose. You can practically feel him being pulled in so many directions. When he finally does pull himself apart it's surprising, awful and unnervingly pragmatic, because Boy must be protected.
Boy is so innocent, and watching him learn to desire things for himself is a beautiful thing. What I also find glorious is that he learns bravery somehow along with desire. I think it's because he finally wants something, or genuinely wants something for Rumple. It's through him we get another picture of the Queen.
We got some an intro and a little backstory in Red, and some very decent history from Rapunzel. We don't interact with the Queen again until The Frog Prince and even then it's not as in depth. Boy meets her at least three times before he finally sees her as someone to outsmart.
While Rumple does a ton of heavy lifting with his magic, strength, and rage, Boy actually is the one to get us to the HEA. Rumple grows increasingly desperate to save Boy, but can only do so much while under the Queen's control. We do get to see a display of his power once he is free, just enough to take him where he needs to be, by Boy's side.
I definitely look forward the the last book in this series, because this one gave us so much of an up close look at how tenuous the hold Queen Schon has on the realm. Boy saw her as breakable, and Rumple saw her as coming undone. I hope her ending is fitting. For now, I really am satisfied with the way Boy and Rumple's life is at the end of this book. All the strawberries boy could want, and all the devotion Rumple will ever need.
Rumpelstilzchen by Sam Northman is available now in paperback and hardcover, and will be released on October 16, 2025 in Kindle Unlimited.
Find Mercy here
I’m super happy this morning to help promote a very exciting cover reveal going on at People *right now* for Our Rogue Fates by Sarah Glenn Marsh (@sarahmarshauthor)!!
Follow the link below to go check out the absolutely gorgeous cover (and also make sure to check out that blurb on the cover as well 👀)
Author Sarah Glenn Marsh unveiled the new cover for her latest romantasy book 'Our Rogue Fates,' which is set to be released on Apr. 28, 202
*****
Our Rogue Fates comes out 28 April 2026, but you can preorder now!! And now you can follow this link for preorders, including an indie bookstore preorder campaign with some absolutely stunning goodies!
Preorder Our Rogue Fates Today!
Hello, everyone! Happy Long Weekend if you’re in Canada, and happy regular weekend to everyone who isn’t!
First, I want to offer up a huge thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed NINE-TENTHS on GoodReads, Storygraph, Fable, Amazon, and everywhere else on their social media and personal websites.
I am verklempt and grateful that folks are loving Dav, Colin and their story as much as I do. I can’t believe there are over a hundred reviews of the book already.
Second, I am very happy to announce that you can now pre-order both the paperback and non-Kindle format eBooks!
The only sticky thing is that the Amazon Paperback version isn’t quite populated out correctly yet—it’s showing as more expensive than other paperback retailers at present. Give it a few more weeks and the price should stabilize, and then you can pre-order on Amazon, if that’s your preferred retailer.
Pre-Order "Nine-Tenths"
I’ve been working hard this past month to complete the interior design of the paperback version, reviewing proofs, and making sure all the purchasing links are up to date on my website. I personally prefer to read books in paperback format, and I am excited to hold it in my eager little hands.
This is the book of my heart, and I’m just so relieved and delighted that people are liking it. Thank you, everyone! And happy reading!
Sweet & Wild is my debut novel and it’s coming out July 29th!
💛MM Fantasy Romance
☀️A Sunshine MC
🍯A Cozy Adjacent Setting
🍃Forest Magic
🌳Spirits in the Woods
🐝Witches
🌻Healing and Growth
Universal Link: books2read.com/u/bzNng9
Sweet & Wild by Alex Larkspur, Alex Larkspur
Itch: applesncinnamon.itch.io/sweet-wild
Sweet & Wild by Alex Larkspur
Cover art by the wonderful northyme.com
