Bad Idea (Brooklyn Kings #1)

I was doing SOOO good at not requesting too many ARCs and getting overwhelmed and reading them at the very last minute..and here we are. Here's Felice Steven's latest novel "Bad Idea." It's the first novel in her new series, Brooklyn Kings.

["Losing your job to the boss's new wife. That's bad luck.
Hooking up with a stranger to forget about it?
Seems like a good idea.
Finding out your new boss is that one-night stand?
There’s that bad luck again.
Except you both agree to put it behind you.
That’s a great idea.

Until you slip and hook up again—not the best idea.
Catching feelings for the boss? Not the smartest idea.
Falling in love with your boss?
Now that’s a really bad idea…"]

Going in, this is sooooo not how I saw these two going, interacting, being in general. But it was the most pleasant of surprises. 

I looooved them. They were so perfect for each other. They supported each other, communicated with each other. They were soft for each other, in the most romantic of ways, but stood up for each other, in all of the ways.

It wasn't easy, but they had each other...and roses.

#gayromancereviews #grr #arcs #arcteammember
#badidea #brooklynkings #brooklynkingsseries #felicestevens #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Simplicity (Oakley's Crew #1)

STILL overwhelmed by the sheer number of TBRs. So still not start something completely random aka, slowly crossing another author off my to-binge list. Here's Nicole Dykes's "Simplicity." It's the first book in her Oakley's Crew series, which is a spin-off of her Kensley Panthers series.

["Walker
There are several principles of landscaping, but my favorite has always been simplicity.
I’m a go with the flow and keep it simple kind of guy. Always have been. Always will be.
It’s how I do my job and how I live my life.
Of course, as luck would have it, it only takes one job and one indescribably hot stranger to change everything for me.
Because one thing Dutton Collins is not . . . simple.

Dutton
I should have sold the house. I shouldn’t be here in the middle of nowhere Kansas.
My grandmother didn’t care for me when she was alive, something she made sure I knew. So now I’m struggling to understand why she’d leave me her home and all her possessions when she died.
I miss the city and was heading back home, ready to give up, when Walker Murphy barreled into my life and complicated the hell out of it.
How am I supposed to leave this all behind when he’s showed me the beauty in the simple life?"]

This book had a different all-around vibe than the other books of Nicole's I've read so far. It was faaar less angsty, less trigger warning, less dramatic. It was...simple.

They were two available people who know who they were and what they wanted. And they went for it. They became friends, rather quickly, and then fell in love. Walker helped Dutton fall in love with every day life, and Dutton helped Walker fall more into himself, more into his town.

They were adorable as hell, for one. And seeing Oakley and Travis all happy and shit?! Yes! I want all of the rest of the books..now. Please?

Trigger Warnings: brief mentions of homophobia, homophobia grandparent, and more.

#simplicity #balance #oakleyscrew #oakleyscrewseries #kensleypanthers #kensleypantersseries #nicoledykes #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Hail Mary (Big Bend Bears #2)

STILL overwhelmed by the sheer number of TBRs. So still not start something completely random aka, slowly crossing another author off my to-binge list. Here's Nicole Dykes's "Hail Mary." It's the second book in her Big Bend Bears series, which is a spin-off of her Kensley Panthers series.

["Benny
Big Bend is my home. I love it here. I love everything about it.
It’s my senior year, and I’m determined to have the best one yet. Of course, that’s when life gets confusing.
I think I may have a little bit of a crush on my nemesis.
Something I never saw coming.
I just hope I can find a way to make him give me a chance because being together would make not only this year great, but this life of ours—absolutely epic.

Rowan
Benjamin McBride is the bane of my existence. He simply won’t quit—he never does.
He’s too happy. Too confident. Too unafraid.
I can’t let him get to me.
He thinks we could be epic together, that us in a relationship would be some saving grace—a Hail Mary—a way to make this year and our lives the best they can be.
But I’m not destined for happiness.
I have to make him understand . . .
It’s never going to happen."]

I had a feeling these two would get their own book, their own HEA. The sunshine and the grump. The I-don't-care-what-they-think-about-me and the I-have-to-care-what-they-think-about-me. Opposites attract plus rivals to lovers. It's small town magic and star crossed fate. Of course they get their own book.

I looooved Benny in the previous book, and was (naturally) unsure of Rowan. This book made me fall in love with Rowan--and want to protect him from everything. Luckily, Benny felt the same.

I love how much emotion these books contain. There's so much love and warmth and protectiveness. But there's so much angst and internalized Feels. It's complicated and dramatic, but it's real.

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, alcoholism, small town and smaller thoughts, sports based homophobic 'jokes', and more.

#redzone #hailmary #falsestart #bigbendbears #bigbendbearsseries #kensleypanthers #kensleypantersseries #nicoledykes #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Red Zone (Big Bend Bears #1)

STILL overwhelmed by the sheer number of TBRs. So still not start something completely random aka, slowly crossing another author off my to-binge list. Here's Nicole Dykes's "Red Zone." It's the first book in her Big Bend Bears series, which is a spin-off of her Kensley Panthers series.

["Dallas Boone
Welcome to Big Bend—my nightmare and my home, all in one.
I don’t fit in here. I don’t fit in anywhere. I’ve made so many mistakes. Over and over.
Two of those mistakes haunt me. One being responsible for a friend losing his job and reputation in this town.
And two, well, that one is even worse.
I ruined so many lives with one stupid decision I barely even remember.
And now I’m going to pay for it.

Colt Howe
Kensley. A place I never wanted to be again.
But I had to come back home. My sister Chloe needs me, which is more important than escaping the town I grew up in.
I’m here for two reasons and two reasons my sister and my nephew.
I’ll make sure my nephew has a better life than I had. That his father is there for him, whether he wants to be or not.
That’s my promise.
I was so damn close to getting out of this town for good. Right in that red zone, I could see the goal, but then I got hit with a force I never saw coming.
And that changed everything."]

This one was heavy, and that’s saying something compared to the heaviness of the original series. 

But Dallas only ever needed someone to see him, love him, help him with his confidence. And Colt was all too happy to volunteer (and attempt to fight some people—but he managed to refrain). 

I love the cameos from Kensley Panthers—and seeing the rivalry from this side of town. 

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, internalized homophobia, talk of a conversion camp, small town and smaller thoughts, sports based homophobic 'jokes', and more.

#redzone #hailmary #falsestart #bigbendbears #bigbendbearsseries #kensleypanthers #kensleypantersseries #nicoledykes #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

The Fated Mate Bandit (Trash Pandas #2)

Here's Amy Bellows's new series, Trash Pandas. The second book is "The Fated Mate Bandit."

["I fell in love with Silver in the third grade. He was my first everything. First best friend, first crush, first kiss. When he chose me out of all the omegas chasing after him, I felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

But fate had other plans.

Just after graduation, I met Daryl. From the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was my fated mate. I tried to hide my disappointment. My heart still belonged to Silver, even though I was destined for someone else.

I did my very best to be a good mate to Daryl. Even when he hurt me, I forgave him and kept trying to make things work. It wasn’t until I got pregnant that I realized I couldn’t stay any longer.

Showing up on Silver’s doorstep isn’t the world’s best plan. He might turn me away. But I have nowhere else to go."]

These two!! D: They were so cute and perfect and adorable and meant to be. Fate wasn't kind to them, or wasn't entirely fair to them, but Fate did bring them back together and gave them forever. Forever plus a new little family.

I love how quirky and crazy this family is. They are soo unique and silly and protective. They didn't have everything growing up, but they had each other. They had love and support and knowledge that they were loved.

I still canNOT wait for the rest of this series. There are sooooo many brothers who need their HEAs.

Trigger Warnings: off-page alcoholism, past off-page domestic abuse as a child, off-page domestic abuse of a pregnant person, and more.

#themaybymurdererwhoknockedmeup #thefatedmatebandit #amybellows #trashpandas #trashpandasseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Goodbye, February

February was eons long. I'm not even kidding. It took FOREVER--and yet, it's the shortest month of the year. But we did have false spring two and winter returns three, so there's that.

2025 Resolutions:
     (1) Don't stop reading
            (b) Complete Monthly Reading Challenge(s)
     (2) Make memories
     (3) Share love of books/reading
     (4) Be kinder to myself

(1) Book's Read This Month: 35 (might get one more in there before midnight though).

    (b) Monthly Reading Challenge(s): Shape = Groundhog. Got some A-Z stuff recorded. Some ARCs. Got a LOOOT of Beat The Backlog done (go me!).

(2) February Memories: I went full-time officially and worked my ass off, learning even more new things and putting myself out there. My best friend had her baby shower. Got my oil changed. So not so much happened this month, but that's also not a bad thing.

(3) Posts this month (including this one): 26.

(4) I still haven't been kinder to myself physically, but here we are. I did have a few not-so-great depression days, but it was particularly gray and bleh this month. Here's to more sun in March?

Anyone still holding onto their resolutions?

Any exciting March reads? Any existing 2025 reads?
Anything I should check out?

#newyearsresolutions #goodbyefebruary #hellomarch #hello2025 #dontstopreading #makememories #shareloveofbooks #shareloveofreading #bekindertomyself #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Protected (Kensley Panthers #5)

Once again, the sheer number of TBRs has overwhelmed me. So why not start something completely random. Here's Nicole Dykes's "Protected." It's the fifth book in her Kensley Panthers series.

["Zachary Olson
I screwed up. Big time. I hurt someone, and I hate myself for it.
I’m barely eighteen and already completely exhausted. Tired of being haunted by secrets and guilt.
My biggest regret, though, is keeping it all from Adam—my best friend, teammate, protector. My everything since I can remember.
And how do I repay him? By keeping these secrets locked up inside. Secrets I know would destroy us.
But I’m not sure how much longer I can do it. No matter how catastrophic the consequences.

Adam Bates
He won’t talk to me.
He’s never kept secrets from me before. We’re both quiet guys who keep to ourselves. But that’s never applied to each other.
I know something is wrong, but my best friend has shut me out.
How can I keep him safe if he won’t talk to me?
All my life, I’ve taken on this role—doing what’s right, no matter what. Watching out for everyone, on and off the field—especially Zach.
And I won’t fail him now, when he needs me more than ever.
Because this is who I am and what I do . . .
I’m the protector"]

I've been waiting for these two FOREVER..or at least what feels like forever. I'm obsessed with best friends to lovers, plus the I'm-in-love-with-my-best-friend trope, and the protector trope. All of the tropes and cliches really.

Plus some angst and trigger warnings and me crying (which sucks because I already have a cold, so yay). Nicole Dykes is much like Cora Rose in the way that all of their books are beautiful and moving and glorious, but they make me cry.

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, small town and smaller thoughts, sports based homophobic 'jokes', parental abuse, alcoholism, death of a parent, and more.

#keeper #guarded #defender #rivaled #protected #kensleypanthers #kensleypantersseries #nicoledykes #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks