Hello everyone! We are wrapping up our first week of this year’s Reading Challenge Month with our New-to-Me Author Week challenge.
You guys can play along with this event in two ways. First off, you can leave a comment on any of this week’s challenge week reviews and earn one entry point for each. And second, if you read along with your own challenge book, you can tell us all about it by leaving a mini review in the comments of this post and earn 10 contest entries. So if you comment on all the posts and do a mini-review, you can earn mega entries!
This week’s fabulous prize is sponsored by Carina Press! They are giving away a fabulous bundle of books that includes:
- ARCTIC SUN by Annabeth Albert – Frozen Hearts #1
- ARCTIC WILD by Annabeth Albert – Frozen Hearts #2
- IMPERIAL STOUT by Layla Reyne – Trouble Brewing #1
- CRAFT BREW by Layla Reyne – Trouble Brewing #2
- WILD TRAIL by A.M. Arthur – Clean Slate Ranch #1
- ROPED IN by A.M. Arthur – Clean Slate Ranch #2
North American winners can get print copies and international winners will get ebooks.
And remember, all entries throughout the month qualify you for the one of three amazing Grand Prizes! They huge bundles of books for three different winners. You can check out the full list here on our Prize Preview post!
Ok, before we get too far, some things you may need to know:
- All the contest details and rules are in this post or at least linked from here.
- This week’s deadline to leave comments on our reviews, or your mini review of your own book here on this post, is Saturday, September 7th at 11:59 pm ET. All entries will also carry over for the grand prize at the end of the month.
- In case you missed any, here are the books we reviewed this week for the New-to-Me Author Challenge. Comment on each for chances to win!
- The Arrangement by Alex Jane
- Gearheart by Maia Strong
- Death’s Angel by Michael Mandrake
- Deviate by Mia Monroe
- Mason’s Run by Mellanie Rourke
- The Art of Death by Bob Appavu
- Beyond Identity by Karrie Roman
- Witcheskin by Nem Rowan
- Something Human by A.J. Demas
- In Case You Forgot by Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar
- If you read along your own challenge book this week, leave your mini review here on this wrap up post.
Thank you so much to everyone who has been participating all week! Don’t forget to leave your comments and your mini reviews for a chance to win! And be sure to check in on Sunday for the kickoff of our second challenge, Diverse Books Week!
I thought I would be done with my 2 chosen books by now, but apparently I managed to pick the two longest books in the universe. I’m still only halfway with the second.
But here’s a review for my first choice.
The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara
This book is 80% mystery/crime, a really satisfying one at that; 10% paranormal and 10% romance. I don’t have a problem with the less than romantic set-up, in that regard I was kind of reminded of Bone to Pick by T.A. Moore. If you liked that one, chances are you’ll like this too.
However the paranormal elements are lacking. I had the same questions as Cooper, who was curious about the whole shifting process and wolf culture. We don’t know much. I’m guessing the author was writing this story as a series from the beginning, and planned to slowly reveal these things in the upcoming books. So hopefully book 2 will be more satisfying, and we’ll get educated on wolf history.
The characters are well fleshed out. We get only Cooper’s POV. He has a take-charge personality but he also has to play nice with his new partner, which he ignores at first. Park is the quiet, observer type. He has secrets, always deflects when Cooper starts asking the wrong questions. Or the right ones. 🙂
In all that, they see something in each other, a connection that draws them in. At times I thought it might be a mating bond or something, that was just my impression based on how Oliver was acting, which is not much to go on, coz he’s holding back a lot. There are some steamy scenes. But don’t expect stargazing in the night and dancing under a full moon. It’s not that book.
I wanted this book to end with a bang, but it didn’t. I think when it comes to mysteries my brain is wired to expect something grand; guns and running and blood. Instead it was an almost easy wrap-up. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just an observation.
It’s a HFN for the couple. They barely in the getting-to-know each other phase.
Overall I liked it, recommend it, and looking forward to book 2.
Glad you enjoyed this one! I am a huge fan of this series. I understand your thoughts on the relationship side of things. It really hits its stride in the second book. Also, you will definitely get more of the wolfy stuff in books 2 and 3 (especially 3). Based on what I have read, your guess about this being a planned trilogy is correct, and I think you are right that information is doled out over the books. Thanks for your review, and look forward to hearing what you think of the rest of the series!
Last year I won a giveaway here by author Sam Burns; the prize was to have a character be given my name. Yesterday Wolf Lost was released; I read it in one day.
The book begins in Colorado with Sawyer, an Omega wolf, on the run from his California pack. The new alpha murdered Sawyer’s father, the previous alpha, and wants Sawyer as his mate. Dez is our other hero; he’s a new wolf and a recently discharged green beret with injuries. He and two comrades, all alpha wolves, are a pack of three. These three men are NOT choosing a career involving violence, instead they have decided to open a coffee shop though none of them know how to use an espresso machine or bake. The three men stand with Sawyer when he runs onto their property and take him into their home. Romance ensues. My namesake character runs the bookshop next to their coffee shop, and plays a nice role in the story. This is a low angst story with touches of humor; I enjoyed it.
**
I chose to read Midlife Crisis by Rob Rosen after seeing the review here. The book was told in the first person and written with a definite sense of humor. The main character went back to his childhood home and attempted to find his first love. Along the way he encounters and is helped by a man who had bullied him in high school. It’s a rather over the top story which needed a better editor. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant read.
**
I also read Concurrence by Marc Rokoff which I thought was a romance but wasn’t. I chose the book because the description indicated a time travel element which sounded appealing. I found the first paragraph off-putting, and the story as a whole proved disappointing.
Wow you were busy this week! Thanks for all the reviews! And yes, I heard that your named character appeared in Wolf Lost! How fun! I have it in my TBR so I can’t wait to check out Kareni’s book shop!
I read CF White’s KICK OFF, the first in her District Line trilogy. Jay is a closeted working-class East Londoner who’s trying to kickstart his struggling soccer career at university, and Sebastian is the son of a posh Kensington family who wants a rock career on his own terms. Since I love sports, music, and college plotlines, it was great to see them combined in one story! I appreciated that White didn’t go over the top with Jay’s dialect, as it made things easier to follow. I wish there had been more about the UK Sports Scholar system; I know that in the NCAA, Jay would have been barred from playing at any university after time in the pros, but I couldn’t tell if he was cut from a training camp or just a prospects showcase. There’s definitely a feeling that the story is being established, which undercuts some of the urgency; there’s an abortive attempt at enemies to lovers, and the quick attraction paradoxically makes the chemistry feel off. The cliffhanger would be a dealbreaker for some (I won the series in a giveaway, so I’m not too worried, but those expecting a standalone should know). Aside from the one-dimensionally evil villain thus far, the story is engaging, and I’m eager to continue.
Thanks for the review Trix!
I chose Something Human by A.J. Demas
to be a part of a New-to-Me-Author. I wasn’t familiar with AJ Demas’ work prior to this challenge, but she definitely kept me engaged (and up all night) with this sweet fantasy.
I read City Boy by A.E. Wasp
A pro-hockey player hooks up with an apple farmer.
It started out as a 2 star book. It was very insta-love. Within 2 hours of meeting and hooking up, the main characters were swapping deep dark secrets and making life altering decisions for each other.
But I continued and I’m glad I did. After the 25% mark, the relationship building was good. I would end up giving it 3.5 stars. I’ll probably pick the next book in the series.
I started watching hockey after reading hockey romances. This is the first book I realized how much I’ve picked up. The MCs were playing a hockey video game and I recognized the real life hockey players they were competing as
Thanks for the review Heather. I’m glad it got better as you read on. And nice job on the hockey info!
I really like the later books in the series, especially Country Boy and Skater Boy, which you might enjoy more. Country Boy is a second-chance, coming out romance – the MCs played against each other in college hockey and had a one-night stand, then end up playing on the same pro team. Skater Boy is a friends-to-lovers between a hockey player and a former figure skater.
This is my first time participating in the Reading Challenge month and I’m really enjoying it. Like Gabriella, the new-to-me author I chose was Charlie Adhara and I started with The Wolf at the Door.
I am typically drawn towards historical or contemporary romance and am not usually intrigued by mysteries or paranormal stories so I wasn’t sure what to expect from a story about “A former FBI agent […] partnered with the enemy in this suspenseful male/male shifter romance”. Well, it is now painfully obvious that I’VE BEEN MISSING OUT. I loved this story. For me, the heart of it was the relationship between Cooper and Park, first as reluctant partners, to friends, to more than that. I adored watching the changing dynamics unfold… the tentative trust, the respect, the heat, the tenderness.
I found the mystery well-paced and satisfying, and it provided the perfect backdrop to really get to know the characters, particularly Cooper since we see through his point of view. While at times I shared Cooper’s anxiety about what Park was thinking and feeling, I liked the decision to keep to Cooper’s point of view. I enjoy the mystery surrounding Park and that there are still many questions to be answered about the werewolf community and Park himself. I prefer the slow reveal, and the intimacy that comes as a relationship deepens. I cannot wait to read the next two books!
So glad you liked this one! I love this series. If you enjoyed this one, I think you will be pleased with the other two as well! And thanks for the review!
I decide to read The Arrangement by Alex Jane.
After the death of his alpha, and with no heir and his father’s health slowly going down, Gabriel’s pack is seriously threatened. An unexpected solution comes with a proposal by Nathaniel Hayward, a wealthy alpha who used to be Gabriel’s deceased brother’s best friend. But after the tragedy that killed his friend and left him badly injured, Nathaniel is a damaged in more than one way. Will Gabriel be able to recover the man he once loved? Or is he lost forever?
This is a sweet story about fated mates, regrets and second chances in love. Set by the end of the nineteenth century, and character based, it flows smoothly and sweetly, like the romance it portrays. Both main characters are likeable, but I think I grew more attached to Gabriel, who despite his naivety, shows strength and stubbornness when it comes to deal with his very reluctant alpha. The secondary characters are also lively and likeable.
In short, a very cute story worth your time.
I really enjoyed it.
So glad you enjoyed it! I really liked this one too! I am looking forward to more in the series. Thanks for your review!
I am hoping to do 2 books but only one so done so far!
I read Tulsi Vival by Anna Kaling
Part of the Dreamspinner Warmest Wishes series, and is set in Australia. It is about the Hindu festival of Tulsi Vivah so a whole new learning curve for me. It is kind of three parts – bit of nice time with Arjuna and Kris, though Arjuna’s fears lead them both to be fairly closeted.
Arjuna then splits with Kris to please his parents, cue extreme feels! And we get a lot of detail about Tulsi Vivah festival.
Then after Arjuna realises how much he has controlled the relationship with Kris and what his life will be like in future, he breaks free!
Nice writing that kept me interested even when the detail was quite heavy and perhaps for the length of the story, the detail was high.
However, enjoyed it a lot and more than I expected to
Thanks for the review Suze! I always enjoy stories that feature cultures I am not so familiar with so that sounds great, if intense!
I chose Sera Trevor’s Curses, Foiled Again for this week’s challenge. I’ve had this one on my TBR for quite a while and I’m glad that I finally read it. Vampire Felix thinks he’s a fierce creature of the night, but he starts to question himself when he encounters John, who is completely unimpressed. This book is an interesting take on vampires and witches, with depth that I wasn’t expecting from the blurb. It wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be, but well worth the read. It had a good cast of secondary characters and a really lovely ending. This is a NineStar Press book and is rather expensive. If you’re interested, I would suggest signing up for their newsletter, which has a code for 30-50% off in every one.
Thanks for the review Jennifer! I have heard good things about this one. Glad you enjoyed it!
I just read Addiction by Roberta Blablanski, a new to me author. I thought it had a great premise and a great start, I really felt invested in the characters and their story. But, where I thought I would get some drama and angst there was just a quick resolution and then epilogue. It felt like a part of their story was missing for me and that was disappointing because I was enjoying their story.
Thanks for the review Jenn! Sorry it didn’t fully work out for you.
This is my first time participating. For my new-to-me author, I tried Mellanie Rourke. I read lots of good things about Mason’s Run and thought it would be a good fit for me.
I enjoyed the book, even though I didn’t really connect with the characters. Both Mason and Lee are compelling characters and I was rooting for things to work out for them. All in all this was a good first effort from MR. I would rate this one a solid 3, and I look forward to the next in the series to see how her writing evolves.
Oh, so glad you have you joining us for the first time! Thanks for the review!
I read two new to me author books. The first was The Arrangement by Alex Jane. Gabriel Webster’s pack is in trouble. It’s been ten years since Gabriel’s family and pack has suffered a great lost in the form of Gabriel’s brother and alpha heir. Now, his mother has just pass and his father’s health is failing leaving the future of what remains of the pack and Gabriel at risk. But help comes from the unlikeliest of sources, Nathaniel Hayward, Gabriel’s brother’s best friend. Nathaniel has been out of the public eye since the accident that disfigured him and left his best friend dead. Gabriel is hoping to make their marriage of convenience work out for the better, now all he has to do is get Nathaniel on board.
It was a sweet read with fun characters. I enjoyed getting to know Gabriel and Nate and the individuals that made up their packs. There was nice build up to the romance present in the story, the pace was good and it flowed very nicely. There was an awkwardness between Gabriel and Nate that projected nicely throughout the story. I really liked that Gabriel and Nate would do little subtle things to get their feelings across but at the same time they we a bit obtuse to each other’s feelings. It led to a good climax and satisfactory read.
The second was: Temporary Insanity by H.L. Day. Paul Davenport is out with a friend/fellow co-worker one night when he comes face to face with the man he caught his now ex-boyfriend cheating on him with. The barman, Indy, doesn’t recognize Paul and proceeds to flirt outrageously with him. Paul still harbors negative feelings toward the man but eventually succumbs to Indy’s persistence. He makes it clear to Indy that any relationship they have will be purely physical. But their time together isn’t that simple and Paul will have to search deep and overlook his stubbornness to find the answers for his own happiness.
I liked this one from the get go. Paul and Indy had a very rocky start and their interaction was fun and funny at times. I really enjoyed every moment they were together and how easily it felt like Indy inserted himself into Paul’s life. I would definitely recommend this for fans of enemy to lover stories since Paul tries so hard to hate on Indy and instead gets his pants charmed right off of him.
I’ve been reading the new season of Valentine’s Inc, which are all set at least in part on cruises so I read Shipping Our Loves by Sammi Cee, who was new to me. Davis and Conrad are on the cruise because it’s been a year since their former partner was killed in an accident and they are finally ready to start looking for a third partner. Shane rewarded himself for putting himself through college with the cruise. It’s a brother’s best friend as Conrad is Shane’s best friend’s older brother. It turns out that they’ve both had crushes on the other.
It’s pretty short – only 100 pages – and is not as steamy as most MMM. Despite some significant sadnesses in both Shane’s and Davis’ backstories, those aren’t dwelt on and it’s a light, happy, adorable romance.
Also my first year with the reading challenge!
Welcome to the Reading challenge Rhonda! So glad you are doing us this year! And I’m glad to hear you liked your choice for NTM author week. I am actually reading a book in this series for Older/Younger hero week later this month.
Not only was my book a new-to-me author, it was a debut. I read Allie Therin’s Spellbound, a historical fantasy romance, that takes place in 1920s Manhattan. Arthur and Rory are two men who have a very isolated life, Arthur because he’s on a mission to protect the world from supernatural relics and Rory because his powers to see the provenance of objects has created many problems for him. When the world is in danger the two men, along with their close circle of friends, come together to save it. Therin did a wonderful job of world-building with the fantastical powers and relics, but she even excelled more with her diverse cast of characters. I’m so glad this is the first in the series because I want more of all of them. The romance is a slow build because there’s a lot of danger going on and things are very muddied in the beginning with trust issues and uncertainty. But I can say that this was a sweet romance, with two men finally finding someone who could share in their world. There’s just a lot to love in this book that I didn’t even go into, and I definitely recommend it.
Oh yay! I loved this book too! I am so glad you enjoyed it Carolyn, and thanks for the review!
This week I read books from 2 NTM authors.
1. Nora Sakavic – The Foxhole Court. This is a story about a group of misfit teens who play a made-up-sport in college. All characters are really flawed. There is a lot going on and it’s difficult to describe.
I had this book for 5 years on my tbr list, so this was the moment to finally read it. I had high expectations because it has so many fans. But I have to say I was mostly confused with this one. I don’t know what the author wanted to say. I found it hard to get into it, there was so much violence and the characters were really difficult to like. I wouldn’t say it was bad written, although it was way too long and detailed. In the end I was curious enough to start the second book of this 3-book series. For now I would rate the first book with 3*
2. Michael Jensen – Man & Beast was also for years waiting on my kindle. This book is a big historical adventure. It is about an American frontier in 1797, pretty realistic and at times very brutal.
I like Jensens writing style so much. The whole book was so entertaining I had to read it in one setting. It is gay fiction with some romance in it. I highly recommend it and would rate it with 5*.
I also read the sequel Man & Monster which I also loved. It is partly a continuation of the first book with the same main characters plus some new ones but written from another POV. This had a bit of a mystery and horror in it. I rate it with 4.5*
Thanks for the reviews Cyntia! I have never tried Michael Jensen, but I am glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! I have actually been hearing a lot about Foxhole Court lately, though I knew nothing about it. I appreciate you review!
I chose Thrown Off The Ice by Taylor Fitzpatrick as my 2nd book in the New-to-Me-Author challenge. I struggled a bit with the writing style and will definitely need to go back and read again when my head is in better space. However, once I got into the rhythm, I fell headlong in love with Liam and his tenacity. Mike took me a minute to warm up to. Together they’re beautiful. Mike was so lucky to have Liam in his life, especially at the end.
I don’t know how this compares to other hockey stories, but this was more about grief, about life and death, about love, and it is about choices, along with hockey.
Make sure you have Kleenex ready cuz this pulls on your heartstrings big time.
Highly recommend this book ?
Glad you enjoyed it, even though it made you need tissues! Thanks for the review!
I chose to read King Consort by J.R. Gray because I had seen a few people raving about it on my twitter tl and I like the royals. Maybe my expectations were higher at that point but I didn’t get as much enjoyment as I was hoping. The story and premise itself is good, a king in the making and a paparazzi who has to tail him, but it didn’t ‘wow’ me. I liked both MCs but I couldn’t tell either of them apart from one chapter to the next. And this is even with each chapter telling me who is talking. I kept having to go back to the start of the chapter to see whose it was. Realizing by the end they both had the same voice. Everything between them just wrapped up very nicely, too nicely. There are a few spelling errors that one would think would have gotten caught, since they weren’t actual words, and a few sentences where some words are missing, but the fact that both MCs sounded the same took more of my enjoyment. 3 stars
Thanks Debbie for the reivew. Sorry it didn’t fully work for you, but glad you joined us!
I put Spellbound on my TBR a couple of months ago, after reading the review. It was next in line and the author is new to me so I decided to read this for my challenge.
SPELLBOUND
ALLIE THERIN
Spellbound is a paranormal that is set in the 1920’s New York.
The story is set around a “normal” young man from an affluent family who is working with
people with paranormal abilities to try to keep magical “relics” from getting into the wrong
hands.
The romance between the two main characters, Rory & Arthur, was a slow burn romance.
This is usually my favorite kind…nothing like UST. 🙂
With the help of their paranormal friends they are able to save the world (or at least Cony Island)
from disaster.
I really enjoyed reading this and would definitely give it at least 4.5 *.
I’m ready and waiting for the followup that’s supposed to be released in 2020.
Oh, I loved this one! Glad you enjoyed it as well! And yes, I am so impatient for book 2