The Teacup Dragon Sanctuary (Starling Island #1) by Jessica Thorne

 

The Teacup Dragon Sanctuary (Starling Island #1) by Jessica Thorne

 

Blurb:

✨ Every lost soul can find a home on Starling Island… ✨

When apothecary Portia Starling clashes with the Academy, she knows exactly how it will end. With her family’s notorious reputation, someone has to take the blame ­– and it’s going to be her. So, reluctantly, she retreats to Starling Island – a place she hasn't considered home in years – to await news of her future.

Noah Turner has always dreamed of travelling north to study the great dragons of Elanholm. However, as a vet with no magic, funding his research feels impossible. But when an opportunity arises to help at Iris Starling’s dragon sanctuary, he can’t afford to turn it down. If he can prove himself there, he might finally reach his dream.

Portia and Noah immediately dislike one another. Noah assumes Portia is an entitled Academy poser, collecting dragons as a trend, while Portia finds him bossy and overbearing. But with the lives of the poor, sickly rescue dragons on the line, can they see past their differences?

 

My review:

Magic rules in this exciting first in a series. This fun fantasy revolves around dragons, teacup dragons, magic and sadly politics academic and otherwise. I fell head over heels for Portia and the other denizens of Starling Island. Portia isn’t perfect but she is smart, driven and real. The teacup dragons are adorable and Noah is redeemable. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale and look forward to more adventures in this world.

 

Buy links:

Amazon

B&N

 

 

Roses and Ruin (The Botanicum 1) by Evangeline Hunter

 

 

Blurb:

Never trust a woman who knows both wedding flowers and where to hide a corpse.

My name is Anastasia Ashwood. I run The Botanicum, a magical flower shop in New York City, where the roses bite, the orchids judge, and the customers occasionally breathe fire. I’m also a dryad, a retired assassin, and a fugitive from Sentinel Security Group, the organization that trained me, betrayed me, and murdered everyone I loved. One day, I will bring Sentinel down and kill their leader, Isaiah White.

In the meantime, I am trying to keep my shop alive, stay hidden, and pretend wedding flowers are the most dangerous thing on my schedule. Then a high-profile supernatural wedding turns into a murder scene when I find a cleaning woman dead in the bridal suite, killed by a professional assassin.

Now I have to solve the murder, protect my shop, deal with a judgmental telepathic cat who may or may not have adopted me, and follow the first real lead to Sentinel I have had in a year.

Unfortunately, sexy incubus Detective Julian Blake is watching my every move, and if he discovers what I really am, the killer may be the least of my problems.

 

My review:

A wonderfully fast paced urban fantasy that will have you flipping pages faster than a cop eating a donut. Anastasia, Sophie and Mochi are a triple threat of brains, talent and snark. This story left me wanting more. Can’t wait for their next adventure.

Buy links:

Amazon

Bookish Girl’s Emergency Contact Is a Lycan King by Elara Hazeby & KA Iris

 

Bookish Girl’s Emergency Contact Is a Lycan King by Elara Hazeby & KA Iris

 

Blurb:

I put down the wrong number as my emergency contact,
and it summoned a 300-year-old Lycan wolf shifter to my hospital bed.

Now he acts like I already belong to him, and growling that I’m his fated mate.

I’m an anxious bookshop owner with panic attacks and a questionable addiction to spicy romance novels.

The last thing I needed was a brooding alpha alphabetizing my chaotic shelf, and laminating my anxiety checklists.

I called him pretty. To be fair, I was concussed.

Orion Halloran is built like a mountain, unbearably controlled, and certain I’m his.

He kisses like he's memorized me. Growls my name when I come apart under his mouth.

But his pack has ancient rules. A human can't be queen.

He thinks I'm worth fighting for. And for the first time in my life, it feels like someone understands me.

Maybe it's time I let him prove it.

 

My review:

I bought this book because of the title and the cover. I was pleasantly surprised that the story did them justice. Two neurodivergent beings finding love with someone who “gets” them. A delightful tale of love and acceptance.

Buy link:

Amazon

 

Pretend it's Forever (The Cage Family #5) by Carrie Ann Ryan

 

Blurb:

Sophia Cage doesn’t need a protector—she needs a night to pretend her world didn’t splinter. After her world burned, she found herself a single mom, a struggling dance studio owner, and unable to do the one thing that had brought her out of the darkness.

Dance.

When Carson walks into her life, all she can see is the broken person she’d been when they’d first met. She’s stronger than the ghosts of her past, at least that’s what she tells herself. Yet with each accidental encounter with the mysterious and dangerous man who’s inserted himself into the Cage family orbit, she’s finding it harder to walk away.

Carson Woods doesn’t trust people. He’s spent his life protecting his sister from their family and the world all while making sure his businesses are the best in their fields.

Then he meets her.

One wrong move with the shattered yet pieced together Sophia could not only fracture his working relationship with the only friends he has but harm the woman he tells himself he cannot crave.

 

My review:

Sophia is so strong. She’s survived the cutthroat world of professional ballerinas, the mess her fathers death left between two families and her own disastrous marriage. But the fates aren’t done with her yet.

Carson doesn’t believe in a lasting love. Despite his sister falling in love and several of friends in loving and committed relationships but after his parents loveless marriage he is convinced love is not for him. But Sophia makes him wish that maybe it could be.

Carson and Sophia are not perfect but they are perfect for each other.

 

Buy links:

Amazon

B&N

 

 

Broken Ride (Southwest Sinners #2) by Delta James

 

 

Blurb:

Everyone warned me Wade Ashcroft was trouble.
I just never expected him to become mine.

Champion saddle bronc rider. Bar fighter. Whiskey drinker. The cowboy mothers warn their daughters about.

After escaping an abusive ex-husband, I've spent fourteen months hiding on the professional rodeo circuit, treating horses, keeping my head down, and never staying anywhere long enough to be found.

Then the horses start dying.

The bloodwork doesn't make sense. The transport records don't match. And the questions I'm asking have made me the next target.

Every instinct tells me to run.

Wade has other ideas.

He doesn't try to control me. He simply makes one thing clear to the people hunting me—

If they want me, they'll have to go through him first.

As the bodies pile up and my past comes looking for me, I'll have to decide if I can trust the most dangerous man I've ever known.

Broken Ride is a scorching romantic suspense featuring a fiercely protective cowboy, a survivor heroine, forced proximity, touch-her-and-die, chosen family, emotional healing, and a hard-earned happily-ever-after.

 

My review:

Broken Ride shares the tale of two bent but not broken individuals that get caught up in a crime and each other. Laney and Wade can each read a horse for different reasons and transfer that skill to reading people too for vastly different reasons. Watching Laney and Wade heal each other while staying ahead of the bad guys will warm your heart. This is the second in the series but can be read stand alone.

 

Buy link:

Amazon

 

 

Frost and Venom by Christine Feehan

 

 

Blurb:

Surgical and trauma nurse Harlow Frye loves the small town of Knightly, where breathtaking views of the Sierra and a tight circle of female friends provides a refuge from her professional life. But lately, it’s Harlow’s personal life that’s causing all the chaos.

First, a series of anonymous threatening letters are left in her mailbox. Then, Harlow is dealt a blow when her friend Lawyer dies after reacting to some sort of toxin. And to top it off, Harlow finds her secret obsession, CIA operative Hawkin Wilder, bleeding out on a mountain trail.

As Harlow turns her home into a makeshift hospital, her infuriating, attractive patient insists on distracting her. But even in the face of their increasing connection, there’s no way Harlow can ignore the escalating storm, when someone else close to her is struck down by the mysterious toxin.

With little more than intuition to go on, Harlow turns to the five friends who have proved themselves to be a better family than her own flesh and blood. As the women attempt to unravel the killings, they will need to rely on their instincts and their connection to each other—or else they’ll lose everything they’ve come to hold dear.

 

My review:

Strong female characters find themselves embroiled in a medical mystery and it will take the smarts and cooperation of the group of friends to find answers. This story is a well written and engrossing tale.

 

Buy links:

Amazon

B&N

 

Kuper's Hawke (Babes in Boots Book 1) by Cooper McKenzie

 

 

Blurb:

After being injured during the raid of a drug/sex house, Officer Sara Hawke talks her way out of the hospital, planning to spend the incoming blizzard at home alone. She is a strong woman who hates to ask for help. From anyone.

Detective Mack Kuper did everything he could to build a wall between them. Which held up until she was injured assisting with the raid he’d arranged. Kidnapping her and taking her home with him so he can care for her during the blizzard was his only option.

Can Sara and Mack come to an understanding during the blizzard? Will Mack convince her that they belong together? Will Sara’s strength keep her from admitting her feelings for Mack?

 

My review:

Kuper's Hawke is a sweet and steamy co-workers to lovers tale. Sara thinks Mack doesn’t like her and Mack can’t stop thinking about her. When Mack makes Sara come to stay with him so he can care for her broken leg during a blizzard they’re forced to talk to each other. This is a fast paced romp that will leave you sweating.

 

Buy links:

Amazon