Summer of Love 2021 - Vino & Veritas Mini-Reviews

In May, I did the covers reveal of five Vino and Veritas titles: Stronghold by Ana Ashley, Limelight by E. Davies, Showstopper by Regina Kyle, Unforgettable by Marley Valentine and Undone by Leslie McAdam (link to the cover reveal is here). And after doing the cover reveals, I treated myself to a few pre-orders (originally, it was meant to be one or two, and once I got my feet more firmly into this series, buy some more and do some experimenting with MM romances). I preordered Leslie McAdams's Undone and Marley Valentine's Unforgettable. Then, a few days later, Ana Ashley's Stronghold (I had, I think, finished Ana's How To Catch A Prince and went "Oh, I need this!"). 

And when I finally got the preorders on my kindle, it was a few days before I started my new Real Life job so I had to do some planning over how was going to read this. I, finished Stronghold over a course of several days and then started Unforgettable almost immediately afterwards. I wanted to read/include Undone here but due to blogging commitments, I will have to save for another day (which is sad as a side character in Unforgettable is the lead and I liked him hugely!). So, here we are with Stronghold and Unforgettable. 

In Stronghold, Skyler and Judson used to be best friends. Then something happened and Judson vanished from Skyler's life and he has no idea why. When, ten years later, Skyler is shocked to discover Judson is back in town. Skyler never forgot his former best friend, but he can't forgive him for leaving without saying a word. But he can't understand, when they meet, why Judson acts so coldly to him? 

Meanwhile, Judson doesn't want to be in the family home, but where else do you go when your life falls apart? He used to be a world class chef, but now... now he's in town, working as a bartending, trying to get over the events that happened in Paris which weren't his fault and trying to figure out how to get away. But when he sees Skyler, he wonders if he could forgive Skyler for what happened ten years ago and if they can be friends again? 

In Unforgettable, Reeve and Oz meet up on a dating app for a one night stand. Which will work well for them both as Oz doesn't do relationship and Reeve is only in Vermont for the summer. But after one unforgettable night, both are shocked that they're now working together as Reeve is a summer temp. While the two have a strong insta-lust and can't seem to keep their hands off each other while trying to be friends, when Oz asks Reeve for a favour: pretend to be his boyfriend for his sister's wedding. Reeve, surprisingly, says yes and as the two spend more time together, it's obvious that the lines between what's fake and what's real become very blurred. 

I read both of these quite quick. Stronghold was only four or five days while Unforgettable took just over a week. So, these are both fast, fun MM romances with a nice amount of steamy, angst and Happily Ever After-ness. 

Both surprised me as, while being light and fun romances, had an undercurrent to them. In Stronghold, both Judson and Skyler are hugely likeable but both have their issues: Skyler's father has a gambling addiction which bubbles in the background and Judson has huge self-esteem and body confidence issues. And in Unforgettable, both Oz and Reeve have issues with their parents (though Oz's issues are very much on the page while Reeve's are more off page) and again, Reeve does has self-confidence issues. 

I'm not sure what to write in this write-up and I liked them both though, I think, I prefer Stronghold over Unforgettable (though I do love Oz and one of the side characters, Murph, is the lead in Undone and I can't wait to read his story when I have time!). I wonder if it's because I have read Ana Ashley before while Marley Valentine is very new to me and I was taking my time more with this rather than Ana's. 

But both are solid instalments in the Vino and Veritas series and I am very intrigued over Undone and one or two other instalments in the series that I might buy/treat self to before the end of the year. 

Moody Reader Book Tag

Ok, I originally wanted to do Erik's from Breakeven Books's Loki Book Tag. But there was one or two questions where, if I answered them as fully as I wanted to, it would have been one very long and very dull post. So, yeah. I decided against that, but I wanted to a do a tag this week as new job and I wanted to write something as I didn't want a week blog silence. So, when I saw Erik do this tag, I went "This is so a Me Tag!" (I am very much a mood reader!) 

So, I saw this (and, therefore, saying I was tagged by Erik) and the creator of the tag is Britt from Slanted Spines. Both videos are above. So, with all that out of the way, let's get started!!!

Summer of Love 2021 - Mini-Reviews

I apologise for squeezing these two books together in one big review and a few weeks after I read them as new real life things are happening so I decided to put them together. Both are romance, both are fun and both had little issues here and there so, to save time, I decide to put them together so real life might not be calm at the time you all are reading this, dear reader, so bear with me for the next few weeks so things might be a little up in the air and the ideas I’m thinking over might take a little longer to write than normal… 

So, where to start?

HI-JACKED Cover Reveal!

COVER REVEAL TIME, FOLKS! Are you ready for it?

And yes, it's a little outside of the Pewter Wolf Read's comfort zone. It's a cover reveal for an adult MM romance. I know I'm dipping my toe into this for a little while (mainly due there events of the last year), so when Sarah from Social Butterfly PR emailed and said "I saw you're reading a few MM romances, fancy a cover reveal from New York Times bestselling authors, Lucy Lennox and May Archer?", I was intrigued. But then I read the blurb (which is what am putting down) and went "Oooh, this sounds like a fun read to have on kindle, by the pool with a cocktail (when we're allowed to go on holiday and be by the pool safely, of course). I wonder what the cover's gonna look like..." and that's when I realised I had to show you guys the cover...

Renowned cardiologist Carter Rogers is used to having things under control. His life, his prestigious reputation, his career, his future.

Things he can’t control this time around:

• His meddling grandfather 

• His annoying gamer cousin

• Buggy South American jungles

• Being the meat in a feuding cartel sandwich

• Getting kidnapped by a monologuing drug lord

•Falling for his very hot, very mouthy ex-Special Forces bodyguard

In short, Carter’s peaceful, well-planned life has been… hijacked.

Summer of Love 2021 - Stripped

As you know if you have been following the Pewter Wolf Reads or myself on other social medias (such as Goodreads/Twitter/etc) since last year, my main COVID-19 pandemic reading/obsession was the Four Bear Construction series by KM Neuhold, a MM romance with little/no angst. This series, I think, was my main drive for me to explore MM romance – or romance in general – the past few months. This series, originally a four book series, followed the four construction workers falling in love in their early 40s with a Happily Ever After (HEA). The series, then, got expanded to three more stories with characters introduced within the series (I reacted very happily when I read that news last year!).

Title And Author: Stripped by K. M. Neuhold

Publisher: Self-Published by Author

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought 

Stripped follows Miller, a ripped trans construction worker at Four Bears who, while on a job at a local university when he dumps into Demetri, a plus-size bear of professor who wears tweed, knits his tortoise cosizes for their shell and who Miller had a huge childhood summer camp crush on. There is an instant connection (of course) but Demetri doesn’t date. He has self-confidence issues and doesn’t think someone like Miller will look at him twice that way. They can just be friends... right?

The Raven Heir Is Healing

Ok, this is kinda breaking my Summer of Love plans but you know me, I like to mix things up! And what better what to mix things up than to show off a guest post written by the lovely Stephanie Burgis, author of the coming soon middle-grade fantasy, The Raven Heir?

The first in the Raven Crown series follow Cordelia and her triplet siblings, Rosalind and Giles who are safely living in a castle at the centre of a forest, protected by spells that their mother have woven. But when the outside world comes crashing into their home, the triplets find themselves in danger. Two rivals and their solders have come for them as whoever is the eldest is heir to the throne. 

But since the Raven Crown was broken, no one has been abled to rule the kingdom and live. So when their mother refuses to tell and she is taken prisoner, the triplets have to go on the run and soon, their realise that deep magic is at work and the three might be the ones to save the kingdom devastated by a war that has raged for generations. They might, also, be the ones to tear their family apart.

And here I am with an guest post about... well, I'm going to leave it as a surprise, but I enjoyed myself hugely reading this and it's making me itch to go to a garden centre! This looks like it's going to be fun magical middle grade so can't wait to read and share my thoughts on at a later date... 

Now, before I share the extract, just want to thank Blue from Kaleidoscopic Tours for allowing me to nip in on this tour! And I want to thank Stephanie for writing g this post. I know she must be super busy with Raven Heir, so am thrilled she found time to write this! Oh, if you are curious on this or any of Stephanie's other stories, you can always visit her website at stephanieburgis.com, or you can send her a quick hello tweet at @stephanieburgis!

Ok, you guys have waited long enough. Here is Stephanie's guest post for your reading pleasure!

Quickie Interview with Mel Gough

You thought I was going to take today off, weren't you? Well, nope. Not today, for I am welcoming author Mel Gough onto the Pewter Wolf for a tiny Q&A (Four questions. Yes, that's how quick it is!)

Mel Gough is the author of several romances (which usually have a dead body in, for good measure). Her latest, A Leap of Faith, is published by Red Dog Press and is a little different from what I normally talk about or read on here. 

Set in South Africa in the early 1950s, Father Daniel Blakemore is happy with his missionary secondment in small, rural hospital on the Eastern Coast. Being away from England makes it easier to hide this homosexuality - a secret that would destroy everything if it ever comes out. 

So when Doctor Eddie Raleigh starts working the same hospital, the two men are instantly drawn to each other and their liaison represents both Daniel's deepest desire and his worst nightmare. If this ever comes to light, it could ruin everything. 

And with the emergences of the apartheid in South Africa and the criminal nature of homosexuality in the UK, how are the two men going to survive: in love, fear or duty?

I am thrilled that, when I did a twitter query about "Should I randomly email some MM romance authors to see if they want to be on the blog?" that both Mel herself and Red Dog Press jumped at me and went "Yes!" and, after a mini chat, Mel had kindly offered to be involved in a small Q&A. So, to Mel, thank you for spending time writing this post out. I know you must be busy, and thank you to whoever is in charge of Red Dog Press's Twitter (@RedDogTweets) for pushing us together. 

Oh, before I hand you over to Mel, let me point you into her social media home. If you want to check out her website, you can visit at melgough.com, or if you want to tweet her and say hi, you can at @melgough_writer. She can, also, be found on Facebook and Instagram. 

Now, ONTO THE QUESTIONS!

This Extract Will Leave You Undone

I have an extract for you guys! And you might recognised the title as the author popped on the Pewter Wolf Reads a month ago. 

Undone by Leslie McAdams is one of the five new titles coming out next week as part of Vino and Veritas, one of the spin off series in Sarina Bowen's World of True North. 

Undone follows Jason, who thinks his new roommate, Murph, has awful taste in men. Murph is funny, full of life, special. Even a straight guy like Jason can see that. 

But Murph's dates... well... Jason yelled at one, kicked another out of the apartment and threw beer in a third's face. And he has no idea why he's reacting the way that he is. 

Jason's sister joked that maybe it's because he's jealous. Which is ridiculous... right?

Now, Leslie McAdams came on the blog last month and chatted about how she came about to write Undone and her involvement in the series (link to that post is here, FYI). So, I am thrilled to have a tiny extract from Undone to share with you after chatting with Leslie and her going "Oh, do you want to read a sneak peek and share with your readers?" (er... yeah! I devoured this literally before I ran to work that morning!)! This little titbit is from Murph's point of view, as Undone is told in dual narrative: Murph's and Jason's. 

Now, before I give you the extract to devour, if you want to know more info on Undone or any other titles within the Vino and Veritas series (as well as the other series in The World of True North), check out hearteyespress.com. And, if you want to check out Leslie's other works, you can visit her on her online home at lesliemcadamauthor.com or you can tweet her a quick hello at @LeslieMcAdam. And I want to thank Leslie for being so lovely and kind as I emailed and we chatted book recs! Always on the hunt for a good read! 

Now, if that all out of the way, here is Undone's extract for you guys! 

Summer of Love?

This was meant to be a review post of sorts. A “I read a bunch of short MM romance stories and wanna talk to you about (I will reference them below)” , not a “This might be the TBR vibe for the rest of Summer” post. Which kinda screws my TBR over as... well... you’ve seen my TBR on Goodreads or Readerly, you would see that I REALLY should tackle my full length stories – you know the ones. The long ones that scare the heck out of me that you all love, but the love and their sizes has kinda scared me (plus the recent UK heatwave threw my reading out).

Like I said, the past few months, I seem to be leaning towards shorter reads. I mean, during my walking holiday in north Wales in June 2021, I read four short stories as part of Prolific Works giveaway: The Day Pass by Slade James (part of the Bear Camp series), Door Number Two by Vinni George (part of the Open Doors series), French Tryst by Isla Olsen and Fan Service by Zoe Lee. They were really short and read one a day (perfect holiday reading) and quickly wrote mini-reviews on Goodreads, most of them I liked and one, not so much. But if you don’t try out new authors, you’ll never know if you’re going to like them (One of the stories made me buy the author’s debut in the series and another has made me researching their current series and go “Where should I start?”)

And recently, I read two more short stories/novellas: The Date by May Archer (prequel novella to the author’s Love in O’Leary series) and Winter Waites by Lucy Lennox (the prequel short story/novella for the author’s Aster Valley series, and yes, I did audiobook the first book in the series, Right as Raine). And both I enjoyed. So much so, I am making plans to read more from them in the coming months so keep your eyes peeled for that. I just need to do some forward planning...

This was meant to be a review for The Date and Winter Waites. Honestly, this was. But I started writing this and went “Actually, I’ve read quite a bit of MM romance since UK first lockdown in March 2020, [though I have dipped toe into these waters before then, but lockdown did something with my reading hence me going hard with KM Neuhold's Four Bear Construction series and my recent discoveries of the Vino and Veritas series and Ana Ashley's Chester Falls series]) and I’m not ready to leave this sub-genre/the genre of romance and go back to YA fantasy/crime just yet. I will, but not yet. It’s summer, I want to read light and summery reads” (I know, dear readers, who have I become?)

So, I have a sneaky suspicion that this summer’s reading will be more on the romance side than my normal fantasy/crime side. Yes, I fear a Summer of Love a-coming.

For this, I would like to apologise in advance for the love hearts/mushiness coming off my blog the next few weeks. Don’t worry, will probably take a tiny blog break sometime during the month (I suspect middle few weeks. I will still be active on social media so keep eyes peeled on that) to get over the sweetness, and I might throw a book or two that have a slightly dark edge/bite that balance out the sweetness. I’m a little surprised on the titles that am leaning towards if my reading gets to sugary... be warned on the sudden reading gear shift (and be warned that I might not review everything I read in the next few weeks on here...)

But August and, maybe, the start of September is going to be a little different reading from me. Brace yourselves!