Monthly Round-Up: June 2021

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Read the thing: (6)

Maybe read the thing (7):

Added to TBR List:

After the Scrum – Dahlia Donovan

Contemporary – Hot Tree Publishing – Sports – Raising Children – Mental Illness – England – Age Gap – 18+ – Explicit – Kink – Celebrity

Read the thing. This was a sweet, cute story and I really liked it, though I did tend to find it a bit slow at times. Caddock is a recently retired rugby player in his late 40s who has recently become the sole guardian of his four-year-old nephew following the death of his brother. He’s a bit at loose ends and isn’t quite sure what to do with his time without rugby, so he decides to open a pub in the small seaside village of Looe. That’s where he meets Francis, an anxious interior decorator who still lives with his gran and speaks to his anxiety therapy dog and his car (Sherlock and Watson respectively) (I love Francis). Francis and Caddock feel a spark between them right away, but neither are sure anything will come of it. After all, Caddock is still technically a celebrity and close to maybe 15 years older than Francis, not to mention that he has a kid to raise and Francis is still suffering from panic attacks and anxiety. None of that really ends up mattering because Caddock and Francis get together quite easily and it’s fairly smooth sailing from then on. Looe is pretty tiny, from what I can gather, and Francis is helping Caddock to decorate his new pub, so they have a lot of opportunities to spend time together. And they absolutely take advantage of that. Caddock and Francis, along with Sherlock and Caddock’s nephew Devlin (who is adorable), soon become somewhat of a family unit, giving both Caddock and Francis hope for a stable, loving future. And aside from some drama with Caddock’s parents and Francis’ mental health issues, the whole book is pretty much just happy fun times. The story is pretty funny at times, and sweet in others. Caddock and Devlin are soon enveloped in small village life and it’s not long before they’re really part of the community. This is a sweet story, if a bit slow moving and aimless at times, but I liked it. Extra points for Francis and Sherlock’s interactions, or just Sherlock in general really.

Skin Deep – Carly Marie

 Contemporary – Short Story – Self-published – BDSM – Kink – First Person POV – Rich Lead – Ebook Only – 18+ – Explicit – HFN Ending

Read the thing. This was a sweet, sexy short story that I felt ended too abruptly. Could’ve used an epilogue, honestly. AJ is a tattoo artist who owns his own shop, Skin Deep. Oliver is a young multimillionaire getting a tattoo. They’re into each other. The whole short is basically AJ and Oliver flirting with each other over the course of three appointments that AJ does Oliver’s tattoo. They also get to know each other a bit at these appointments, which soon makes it clear that these two are very compatible with each other. AJ is a Daddy Dom who likes to take care of his boys and also likes his boys to be into pretty things. Oliver happens to be a boy who very much likes pretty things. It seems like a match made in Heaven, really. And the sexual tension ratches up each appointment, until finally Oliver’s tattoo is finished and one of them will have to make a move. This was just really sweet and I enjoyed it. AJ and Oliver were great and their flirting was cute. I really would’ve liked to see an epilogue of the two of them at some point in the future. The current ending leaves them in a nice place, but it is pretty abrupt. All in all, would recommend.

Out in the Cold (Blue Collar Hearts #2) – Kiki Clark

Contemporary – Self-published – Novella – Age Gap – Bisexual Lead – 18+ – Explicit – Kink – HFN Ending

Read the thing. So much love for this. Beau has just discovered his fiancé cheating on him in their actual home and he’s understandably upset about it. Wanting to get away for a bit, he decides to drive up to his father’s cabin, only to get caught up in a snowstorm, forcing him to seek immediate shelter. He ends up at a remote cabin belonging to Coop, who is somewhat of a loner but still lets Beau wait out the storm with him. Coop has long since sworn off relationships, but there’s something about Beau that makes him want to rethink that stance. Beau and Coop are stranded with each other, along with Coop’s German Shepard mix Trucker, for basically an entire weekend, so they have a bit of time to try to get to know each other. And the more time they spend together, both in bed and out (because they do end up in bed together, despite them both thinking it’s a bad idea), the more they realize that there’s something special about the other person. And to their surprise, they actually might be starting to fall in love a little. This was really quite sweet and I highly recommend it. Beau is a bit of a mess but still so genuine and such a sweetheart. And Coop can come off as gruff, but he’s also quite a nice guy who is maybe a bit lonely. I loved them together and really only wanted good things for them. The ending is technically HFN, but I expect nothing but good things for them in their future.

The Ex Factor (Bodyguards Inc. #2) – RJ Scott

Contemporary – Love Lane Books – Ebook Only – Trigger Warnings Apply – 18+ – Age Gap – England – Celebrity – Hurt/Comfort – DNF

Maybe read the thing. I DNF’d this at around 50%. I just couldn’t really get into it. Ben is a bodyguard who was hired, along with his colleagues, to provide behind the scenes security to some people on a talent competition show (the books refers to it as an X Factor rip off). While there he comes across one of the acts, Daniel, in a bad way. Daniel refuses Ben’s help in the moment, but does accept his business card in case of future trouble. Daniel eventually makes use of this, and weeks after the competition ends he needs Ben to rescue him from his abusive ex/boyfriend. The point I left off at is where Ben is staying with Daniel at his parents’ home and they’ve just gone to the police. I’m not sure what happens after that. This book isn’t badly written, or anything, but I just really couldn’t get into it, or make myself care enough about what comes next. It’s quite slow and somewhat boring and I didn’t really see any sense in just forcing myself to read it. So, maybe someone else will like it, but it just wasn’t for me. (Trigger warning for mentions of abuse and depictions of intimate partner violence)

Valentine Omega’s Baby (Sugar Beach #3.5) – Corie Rosling

Contemporary – Ebook Only – Self-Published – Novella – Mates – Omegaverse – Mpreg – Holidays – Age Gap – First Person POV – 18+ – Explicit – Knotting – Raising Children – Fluff – Dysfunctional Family

Maybe read the thing. Honestly, there wasn’t much to this. Cole and Ryan make eye contact in a crowded restaurant one Valentine’s Day night and then boom, instant relationship. They’re actually fated mates so I don’t technically count this as insta-love, but that’s basically what happens. Absolutely no work going into that relationship. Also Cole is eight months pregnant via a sperm donor, and he of course goes into labour immediately after he and Ryan have sex immediately after they leave the restaurant. This is a novella and the whole story is basically just Cole and Ryan being instantly in love and taking care of their new daughter. There’s a brief blip in there concerning Cole’s shitty father and Ryan’s real estate company, but nothing really comes of that. There is very little substance here, but if you’re into slice of life stories with little relationship development and a cute baby then you could do worse than this.

Rediscovering Family – Sean Michael

Contemporary – Self-published – Ebook Only – Raising Children – Second Chances – Canada – 18+ – Explicit – Fluff

Maybe read the thing. Unfourtunately, because the premise really intrigued me, the best way I can describe this book is underwhelming and bland. Two years ago, Todd and Bruce’s life was ripped apart when their nanny disappeared with their three-month-old daughter her third day on the job. Unable to cope with the loss, Todd and Bruce ended up divorcing and going their separate ways, having nothing to do with each other until one night when Todd suddenly calls to inform Bruce that their daughter has been found. Alive. What follows this is a lot of slice of life minutia that is somewhat sweet, but largely just uninteresting. Todd and Bruce are reunited with their daughter, Olive, now a toddler, along with another child she’d been kidnapped with who they also take in. And on top of that, Todd is expecting a son with the surrogate who’d carried Olive. The story is mostly filled out with the day-to-day of raising two, then three, children, which is kind of boring, to be honest. The kids are cute, and Todd and Bruce and their parents absolutely love and dote on them, but the whole thing wasn’t enough to keep my attention. Adding to that, the romance in the book was not really there. Todd and Bruce ended up divorcing after Olive’s kidnapping, though they never stopped loving each other even though they had no contact for a year or so. Then they reunite upon Olive’s return and sort of immediately get back together? With no fuss or drama? That didn’t impress me much. Good that the love’s still there, but I really wanted something more. And then of course there’s probably the most annoying part of the whole thing: the kidnapping nanny is barely mentioned in the grand scheme of things. The book even ends without saying anything about what happened to her, or why and how she could go around just constantly kidnapping babies. There were a few mentions about a trial, but that was it. Why have something like this as part of the plot if you’re going to do basically nothing with it? Not sure I would recommend this unless you’re into really mindless fluff.

Hurdling Fences (Hart Medical Center #2) – Shea Balik

Contemporary – Omegaverse – Self-Published – Ebook Only – Novella – POC Lead – Raising Children – Medical – Mystery – 18+ – Explicit – Mpreg

Maybe read the thing. I’d say to only really pick this one up if you liked the last one and are interested in continuing with the series. While the plots of the books in the Hart Medical Center series are mostly standalone, the stalker plaguing the omegas working at the Hart Medical Center is a series-wide problem. This book focuses on Tenzin (who we saw briefly in the first book), an Omega working somewhere in the emergency room, and Emmett, an alpha surgeon. Tenzin’s daughter ends up breaking her arm at school, and Emmett is the one tasked to perform surgery on her. Tenzin and Emmett know each other from around the hospital, also Emmett has always been into Tenzin but never made a move because he thought that Tenzin was already married. Tenzin has an interest in Emmett, but things are off to a very rocky start for them because Emmett is a sexist ass. In this universe, omegas are very much second-class citizens, and it’s horrible the way that they’re treated. Luckily, Emmett turns himself around, but even then the ‘romance’ between him and Tenzin didn’t really do it for me. It’s not really there? Like, I don’t think it really counts as insta-love because I guess they’ve been lowkey sort of pining after each other for a bit, but things still went from 0 to 60 as soon as Emmett found out that Tenzin was actually divorced (from his absolute shit of an ex-husband, but he barely makes an impact on the story). So Emmett and Tenzin get together basically right away and then they’re a big happy family with Tenzin’s two children, and then one more on the way. It was fine, I guess? If not very engaging. My real interest was with the stalker, honestly. He first showed up in the first book, targeting a different omega, and is back again after Tenzin. We know nothing about the stalker other than that he’s a massive sexist twat who really seems to hate omegas who don’t ‘do what they’re supposed to’. The stalker was mostly background here, but it’s what ultimately kept my interest in the story. The relationship between Tenzin and Emmett I could take or leave. Another thing about this book is that it could really use another read-through to catch errors. Especially glaring ones like names being switched around.

Stumbling into Obstacles (Hart Medical Center #3) – Shea Balik

Contemporary – Omegaverse – Self-Published – Novella – Ebook Only – Mystery – Trigger Warnings Apply – Rich Lead – 18+ – Explicit – Mpreg – Mental Illness – Hurt/Comfort

Maybe read the thing. I have to admit right now that I’m not reading this series for the romances, I’m reading it for the stalker shenanigans. I just really want to know who this person is and then see them arrested or beaten up or whatever. There really aren’t any clues in the books themselves to lead to this dude’s identity, so my best and only guess is that it’s someone who works for Hart Medical Center who also hates omegas. Which is a lot of people, apparently, because this universe is something else. Also Oliver Pierce (who first appeared in the first book) makes another appearance here and he’s just horrible and I have to assume that it’s only the twisted rules in this universe that are letting him keep his job. Like, this dude is beyond an asshole. Anyway, the ‘romance’. Case is an omega and physician’s assistant with a troubled past and an unpleasant present. Alaric is an alpha and a doctor at the hospital who is an asshole to pretty much everyone, though not necessarily in a malicious sort of way. Still a dick though. Case calls him out on it one day and Alaric, conveniently, has just decided that he’d like to change the way he interacts with people and uses this event to ask Case to help him do that. And then three weeks later they’re both falling in love with each other without any real warning for us, the readers. Whatever, I already knew the romances in this series were weak. A lot of telling and not showing is my issue, I think. Anyway, I did like that Alaric helped support Case through his struggles over his past and his current issues with the local stalker, but I didn’t necessarily read it as it having to be romantic. I really feel like that connection wasn’t earned, if that makes sense. Here for the drama though, as always. Also liked that Case’s subsequent pregnancy, though it wasn’t a huge focus, wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, and reflected what Case has been through in the past (which was horrific). As in the previous books, the writing isn’t that great, but I didn’t really notice any name swapping so that’s an improvement. I would really only recommend this if you’re already reading the series and are interested in the continued mystery of the stalker. (Trigger warning for intimate partner violence, abuse, and dubious consent)

Head On Collision (Hart Medical Center #4) – Shea Balik

Contemporary – Omegaverse – Self-Published – Novella – Mystery/Suspense – Mpreg – Hurt/Comfort – Trigger Warnings Apply – 18+ – Explicit

Read the thing. I actually quite liked this one, definitely a lot more than the others. Although, the others need to be read first in order for this one to make sense since the overarching plot is heavily involved in each one. Bradford is an alpha lawyer who we met in a previous book. Oslo is a recently divorced omega who is new to the area. He’s also newly pregnant by his (cheating dick of an) ex-husband and that’s apparently why he becomes the local stalker’s new target. Bradford is originally brought in because of the fear that Oslo may have to surrender his unborn child to his ex (because this society is totally backwards when it comes to omegas) (seriously, why does Dr Oliver Pierce even still have a job!?), though the ex really ends up being just a non-issue and Bradford and Oslo instead just end up falling in love with each other. I was actually invested in the romance this time around, although I could’ve done with less telling and more showing, but whatever. Bradford and Oslo were cute and there weren’t any borderline dub-con heat shenanigans so that’s always great. The stalker still remains at large, though I was surprised to see how much more threatening they’re becoming. The notes they’re sending seem to be much more graphic, and Oslo’s apartment was straight-up ransacked. It’s starting to get a bit insane. And also annoying how the police force still won’t help with the investigation because who cares about omegas, right? The mystery here is still engaging, I am genuinely enjoying the large cast of characters we’ve now amassed (even though a lot of the romances I can take or leave), and I hope the improvements in the way this book was written carry on to the next one. (Trigger warning for disturbing threatening language)

Tiptoeing Through a Minefield (Hart Medical Center #5) – Shea Balik

Contemporary – Omegaverse – Self-Published – Ebook Only – Mystery – Novella – 18+ – Explicit – Mpreg – Thriller – Trigger Warnings Apply

Read the thing. So this one was fucking wild. Ronan, alpha, is the new director of Hart Medical Center. He took over the position from his father after he retired and since then he’s been determined to fix the hospital’s finances and bad reputation. Shale, omega, is the patient coordinator Ronan hired to help him turn things around. They’ve both been pretty prominent in the previous books in the series, as they are involved in most of the goings-on in the hospital and in the perpetually ongoing stalker investigation. This book is where they finally get the spotlight. They were alright. I’m fairly sure that Shale is partially insane, which makes him either pretty funny or too much depending on the scene, but they were both fun together. The real draw to me for this book was the stalker situation, though. This story provides a few new clues to the stalker’s identity, but still no definite answers. Also the stalker seems to have completely lost their shit because the escalation here is fucking whoa. So far, aside from trashing Oslo’s apartment, the stalker hasn’t really done more than send flowers with written threats. And then suddenly here they’re ambushing Shale in his office and attacking him with the intent to straight up kill him, and then shooting some other poor bastard (whose book I can only assume is next). Shit’s getting wild. And then, even after all that, the police still don’t want to raise a finger to help the situation because ‘who cares about omegas, right?’ Seriously, at this point, the way omegas are treated in this world is becoming almost ridiculous. Like, omegas are still able to go out in the world and get educations and jobs, but so many people have this attitude that they should be treated less than animals. It’s starting to get almost hilarious. Speaking of: how is Oliver Pierce not fired yet!? Aside from that, the writing seems to get better book by book, though it is still a bit clunky at times. And though the romances don’t always land for me, the stalker storyline is keeping me engaged, and I am liking the recurring cast of characters and the continuation of their stories in the background even after their books have ended. (Trigger warning for mentions of attempted rape, violence, traumatic birth, sexism)

Clashing With a Titan (Hart Medical Center #6) – Shea Balik

Contemporary – Omegaverse – Ebook Only – Self-Published – Novella – Mystery – Dysfunctional Family – Trigger Warnings Apply – Thriller – Medical – Injury – 18+ – Explicit – Mpreg

Maybe read the thing. And even then the maybe is only for people reading the series who want to keep following the stalker storyline. We get some more clues about the stalker(s), and some more shenanigans that prove the stalker is clearly escalating, and I now have suspicions on who is behind the whole thing. I’m curious to see if I’ll turn out to be right. But the stalker isn’t the only storyline in this novella. There’s also a romance… ish. We first met Dr Oliver Pierce back in the first book of the series when he refused to operate on omega detective Jamal Tuma’s gunshot wound and basically almost left him to die. And Oliver’s behaviour hasn’t improved at all in any subsequent appearances. The man is a bigot, he’s hateful, he’s dangerous, and he should’ve been fired long ago and if he’d turned out to be the stalker I wouldn’t have been at all surprised. And now he’s getting his HEA. Fuck. Me. I just couldn’t with this. Anson is this book’s omega and the stalker’s latest victim. He’s had a rough go of things and is finally in a good place. Also he’s never met Oliver before now, so at least this book didn’t have Oliver getting with someone who’d seen his past shitty behaviour (or worse, been subject to it). But oh my fuck was I just so not invested. The writing in this series isn’t good enough to make me believe that Oliver deserves his happy ending with so little work put into it. Maybe if we’d seen Oliver start to make changes before now, but we haven’t. It’s like he did a complete 180 out of the blue for self-serving reasons and I just couldn’t make myself care. No amount of cutesy scenes and sappy speeches will make me get over the fact that this man refused to operate on Jamal in Book 1 just because he’s an omega and therefore not worth the time and effort and basically left him to die. (Actually, I don’t think he even apologized for that.) So the romance here is no-go for me, I honestly just read this for the continuation of the stalker storyline. (Trigger warning for violence, mentions of intimate partner violence)

Shattering Foundations (Hart Medical Center #7) – Shea Balik

Contemporary – Omegaverse – Self-Published – Ebook Only – Mystery – Novella – Trigger Warnings Apply – Mpreg – Rich Lead – Thriller – 18+ – Explicit – Insta Love – Medical

Read the thing. Once again, the romance falls flat for me here, but everything else was pretty great, honestly. This time around we’re getting the story of Dr Doss Calloway, one of the obstetricians at Hart Medical Center and someone we’ve seen here and there throughout the series. He becomes the stalker’s newest victim but luckily he has the support of surprise love interest Landon to help him get through it. Their romance was extremely meh, although I guess they’re pretty cute together? But what really stole the show, and my heart, was Landon’s younger brother Breccan, who begins the story by being violently raped (as in ‘needs surgery for internal injuries and oh god so much blood’ violent, though we only see the aftermath it’s pretty brutal). My heart broke for Breccan and I just loved how his and Landon’s relationship was written. Landon raised Breccan after the death of their parents when Breccan was just three, and it’s clear that both men really have a close bond. I just really loved them. With better writing, I could’ve read a story just about them dealing with this situation with a romantic subplot, honestly. And while all that is going on, the stalker situation gets pretty wild with some revelations, some guns, and some kidnapping. We’ve uncovered the identity of the accomplice, and I’m pretty sure I know who the actual stalker is, next book is the finale where I’ll see if I’m right. So the romance was still blah, though cute at times, and everything else was pretty decent. (Trigger warning for rape and violence)

Barreling Through Road Blocks (Hart Medical Center #8) – Shea Balik

Contemporary – Omegaverse – Novella – Self-Published – Ebook Only – Mystery – Medical – Rich Lead – Insta Love – 18+ – Explicit – Mpreg – Thriller

Maybe read the thing. I am so glad this series is over. Make of that what you will. The romance in this book features Cillian and Soren. Cillian we’ve seen a few times before; he’s a physician’s assistant in the ER and was almost raped by one of the new nurses a few books back. Soren is the chief of police who is now determined to clean up his department of bigoted alphas after having let them run amok this whole time. The romance is practically non-existent here. Cillian and Soren make eye contact in the ER and that is apparently that. Not 24 hours later they’ve gone to bed together and Cillian is pregnant (another surprise heat, natch) and Soren is in love. If fated mates were actually a thing in this universe I wouldn’t have such an issue with this, but they’re not and I do (though your mileage may vary). There is no substance to most of these relationships and it’s very annoying to read. Fine enough if you enjoy smut, I suppose (though even the smut in this series as a whole isn’t really much to write home about). In terms of the stalker: I was right about who I thought it was, though I didn’t see the second accomplice coming. I was entertained enough with all the drama that came with the stalker, and I was satisfied with the ending. It was all suitably thrilling and all’s well that ends well. Pretty much every lead from the past books showed up here at least once, and it’s always nice to know that they’re still doing all right considering. I wish the books in this series put more effort into the romantic relationships, but I guess that was sacrificed in favour of more stalking shenanigans.

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