Overnight Sensation (Brooklyn Bruisers #5) [Jason & Heidi] by Sarina Bowen

This was a fun read! Heidi and Castro are perfect together. They are both a force to be reckoned with. Each on their own and especially together. While being together, spending time together is easy for both of them, the prospect of a relationship is something both of them isn't sure about. It's not the right time for neither.

Jason Castro's previous year might have been GREAT yet it finished horribly so from an "Overnight Sensation" he became someone who isn't sure about his future in the team. Yet he is willing to put up a fight to be a better player so he can keep playing the game he loves so much. Jason is known for being easy going, especially when the ladies are concerned, but his reasoning isn't just about having fun it's him not being ready to put his heart on the line after losing his ex-girlfriend in a car accident a few years ago. So when he sees the HOT intern - Heidi Pepper - or as everyone calls her - Hot Pepper - he wants a fun night but nothing more, he's just not sure about doing it with someone he sort of works with..

January 2019 Reading List

I'm really excited to start 2019, in general but also in books. There are so many exciting new releases to come! this month I have 2 - the 5th Brooklyn Bruisers by Sarina Bowen and the 2nd installment in Lucky by Garrett Leigh. There's also a new release by SE Jakes but sadly I won't get to it this month so I'll just be preparing myself mentally - re-listening to the first 3 installment since I read those way back in 2015! 😐

Though I planned on finishing Cari Z.'s booklist last year I still have a few left.. So this month I have 2 more books and actually all I have left besides these is a co-written series I plan on reading next month.

Last year I sampled a few books by Annabeth Albert (the #gaymers series) and I really enjoyed them so I added her "Out of Uniform" series (thinking about reading all of her books as well but we'll see how it goes 🙃 not THIS year for sure). There's also a book I have on my list for 4 years (!) and I keep re-scheduling it! So right now it's a promise I'm reading it this month!

Though it's a new year I truly hope it will also mark a sort of an ending to a medical situation I've been dealing with for years. I seem to be on the right path to saying goodbye to the pain and discomfort so all I can do is keep what I'm doing and wish for a better and healthier future. 🙏

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Statistics (will be filled at the end of the month)

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Total Pages: 

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Click for more Recap & Goals of previous months

♥ Contemporary Romance ♥

• Off Base (Out of Uniform, #1) By Annabeth Albert (MM)
• Homecoming (Out of Uniform, #1.5) By Annabeth Albert (MM)
• Off Leash (Out of Uniform, #1.6) By Annabeth Albert (MM)
• At Attention (Out of Uniform, #2) By Annabeth Albert (MM) 
• I Do (Out of Uniform, #2.5) By Annabeth Albert (MM)
• Overnight Sensation (Brooklyn Bruisers, #5) By Sarina Bowen (MF) ★★★★½
• Cash (Lucky, #2) By Garrett Leigh (MM)
• Into the Storm By Melanie Moreland (MF)

♥ Romantic Suspense ♥

• Double or Nothing By Cari Z. (MM) 

♥ Sci-Fi Romance ♥

• Changing Worlds (#1-#2) By Cari Z. (MM) 

2018 Yearly Recap

Every year I try and make a sort of a summary of my reads. There are always so many great books I would rather recommend them all than try and pick and choose especially since I would probably tend to mention books I've read recently to ones I've read at the beginning of the year.. so down bellow I'll be listing ALL the books I consider SUPERB reads which means rated 5 / 4½ stars. There were 81 books in total (out of the total of 125 books) - 65 books rated 5★ & 16 books rated 4½★.

This year I had a few authors I was going through their book list. My top read author (with 21 books!) was Charlie Cochet. Also FINALLY finished Mary Calmes (13 books) and Amy Lane (9 books) as well as Mariana Zapata and Suki Fleet (8 books each). I wanted to finish Cari Z.'s booklist as well but sadly I didn't manage ALL of them.. (yet I DID read 13 books) - still have a few I'm  planning on reading at the beginning of 2019.

Contemporary Romance - 41/60
First in Line - Annabeth Albert (♂♂)
Status Update (#gaymers, #1) - Annabeth Albert (♂♂)
Holiday Escape (#gaymers, #2.5) - Annabeth Albert (♂♂)
Connection Error (#gaymers, #3) - Annabeth Albert (♂♂)
Love Connection (#gaymers, #3.5) - Annabeth Albert (♂♂)
Sleepover - Serena Bell (♂♀)
Speakeasy (True North, #5) - Sarina Bowen (♂♀)
Brooklynaire (Brooklyn Bruisers, #4) - Sarina Bowen (♂♀)
Tribute Act - Joanna Chambers (♂♂)
Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
Center of Gravity - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
Finding Mr. Wrong - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
Forgive and Forget - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
Light up the Dark - Suki Fleet (♂♂)
A Fool and His Manny (The Mannies, #4)- Amy Lane (♂♂)
Crocus (Bonfires, #2) - Amy Lane (♂♂)
Regret Me Not - Amy Lane (♂♂)
Beautiful Dreamer - Christina Lee (♂♂)
Love me Louder - Christina Lee (♂♂)
Reclaim (Under My Skin, #3) - Christina Lee (♂♂)
First Light (Heartsville, #2)- Christina Lee & Felice Stevens (♂♂)
Ever After - Christina Lee & Riley Hart (♂♂)
Off Sunlight and Stardust - Christina Lee & Riley Hart (♂♂)
Lucky - Garrett Leigh (♂♂)
Soul to Keep (Rented Hearts, #2) - Garrett Leigh (♂♂)
Whisper (Skins, #2) - Garrett Leigh (♂♂)
Fragments of Ash (A Modern Fairytale, #7)- Katy Regnery (♂♀)
Fighting Irish (The Summerhaven Trio, #1) - Katy Regnery (♂♀)
Smiling Irish (The Summerhaven Trio, #2) - Katy Regnery (♂♀)
Loving Irish (The Summerhaven Trio, #3) - Katy Regnery (♂♀)
Catching Irish (The Summerhaven Trio, #4) - Katy Regnery (♂♀)
500 Kisses - Anyta Sunday (♂♂)
The Douglas Fir - Anyta Sunday (♂♂)
Handle with Care - Cari Z. (♂♂)
Worth a Shot - Cari Z. (♀♀)
Under Locke - Mariana Zapata (♂♀)
Kulti - Mariana Zapata (♂♀)
Wait for It - Mariana Zapata (♂♀)
Dear Aaron - Mariana Zapata (♂♀)
From Lukov with Love - Mariana Zapata (♂♀)
Luna and the Lie - Mariana Zapata (♂♀)

PNR 19/32
His Consort - Mary Calmes (♂♂)
Old Loyalty, New Love (L'ange, #1) - Mary Calmes (♂♂)
Fighting Instinct (L'ange, #2) - Mary Calmes (♂♂)
Love and Payne (THIRDS Universe) - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
The Perfect Valentine's Day (A little Bite of Love, #1.5) - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
Healing Hunter's Heart (A little Bite of Love, #2) - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
The Soldati Prince (Soldati Hearts, #1) - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
The Foxling Soldati (Soldati Hearts, #2) - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
Between the Devil and the Pacific Blue - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
Love in Retrograde - Charlie Cochet (Sci-Fi Romance) (♂♂)
Shades of Wicked (Night Rebel, #1) - Jeaniene Frost (urban Fantasy) (♂♀)
A Blinded Mind - Cari Z. (♂♂)
Off the Beaten Path - Cari Z. (♂♂)
Panopolis (#1-#3) - Cari Z. (♂♂)
Shadows and Light - Cari Z. (♂♂)
Tempest - Cari Z. (♂♂)
The Train - Cari Z. (♂♂)

New/Young Adult - 10/14
The Accidentals - Sarina Bowen (♂♀)
Studly Period (The Ivy Years, #5.5) - Sarina Bowen (♂♀)
Falling - Suki Fleet (♂♂)
The Glass House - Suki Fleet (♂♂)
Te Quiero - Suki Fleet (♂♂)
This is not a Love Story - Suki Fleet (♂♂)
Wildflowers - Suki Fleet (♂♂)
(in)visible - Anyta Sunday (♂♂)
rock - Anyta Sunday (♂♂)
A Date for Hannah - Katy Regnery (as Callie Henry) (♂♀)

Romantic Suspense - 7/11
All kinds of Tied Down (Marshals, #1) - Mary Calmes (♂♂)
Fit to be Tied  (Marshals, #2) - Mary Calmes (♂♂)
Twisted and Tied (Marshals, #4) - Mary Calmes (♂♂)
Love in Spades (Four Kings Security, #1) - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
Join the Club (Four Kings Security, #3) - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
Blue Blooded (Lord and Lady Hetheridge, #5) - Emma Jameson (♂♀)
Christmas in Camelot (Camelot West Virginia Season #1) by Emma Jameson & Cyn Mackley (♂♀)

Historical Romance - 4/6
Mr. Winterbourne's Christmans (Winterbourne, #2) - Joanna Chambers (♂♂)
A Tender Curiosity - Charlie Cochet (♂♂)
The Bells of Times Square - Amy Lane (♂♂)
Bird Meets Cage - Anyta Sunday (♂♂)

Christmas in Camelot (Camelot West Virginia Season #1) by Emma Jameson & Cyn Mackley

This was a nice and sweet surprise release. It's just the "first chapter" in a serialized series by two authors - one I've very familiar with and enjoyed reading - Emma Jameson and new to me Cyn Mackley. I'm not sure when the next one will be published but I DO know I'll grab it and read it ASAP. It was rather short but we already got to meet quite a lot of the people of Camelot and a hint of what's in store for us.

Colonel Merle Emery has recently retired, and after traveling the world he realizes it's time to settle down and not just anywhere but in the small and almost forgotten town of Camelot in the big castle over on the mountain. He has money he recently made and he has his vision of what's his future is going to be. His objective is convincing Misty Avalon, the owner of the castle, to actually sell it to him since she is having some regrets about even posting her family's home for sale.

His Consort by Mary Calmes

This book was so fun and engaging! I was hooked right from the start! I loved Jason. He was truly a great guy so it's no wonder he makes friends whenever he goes, even without realizing he has a very special and unique power over a species he didn't even know existed - Vampyrs!

When Jason Thorpe helps rescue a "kid" while on a carpentering job in Washington he doesn't know the effect it's going to have on his life. But that situation and everything that happened there made him take the right decision for his own life and that's starting a new in New Orleans in a place that was gifted to him by his best friend after his passing. Yet once he was there, just looking at the place he finds the best partner and friend in Ode. Together with her family she envelopes Jason's life with warmth and love, though she hopes he will have more of that in a partner but Jason is quite reluctant.

Tempest by Cari Z.

There is so much I have to say about this book I truly don't know where to start. This book was AMAZING, the arc of it, Colm's story was heart breaking heart warming, difficult to read at times, hopeless! hopeful! but also at the very end peaceful. Life certainly took a lot from both Colm and Nichol but they DID manage to find their own kind of Happily Ever After. Perfect is a relative concept really.

When Colm Weathercliff's father dies he realizes it's time to leave the only place he has called home. Though he is reluctant he knows that's the best time and hopefully he can find and build a new place with his stepmothers' family in the big city of Caithmor. After a colorful and interesting journey to get there he is happy to find friendship and love in a new home - The Cove - the Inn Megg (his stepmother's aunt) runs with a bit of help from her grandson Nichol Searunner.

Shadows and Light by Cari Z.

I'll admit I had my doubts about this one.. I don't usually read BDSM, and this one sounded like one through the synopsis. But it's Cari so I HAD to give it a go and I'm SO glad I did. It was different, and though the relationship between our two MCs was very defined as the book starts - an apprentice and his master, as the book progressed and things change between them and all around them their relationship changes as well. It was BEAUTIFUL seeing Rafael grow and evolve, becoming a man who has a life to live for.

The whole story is told from Rafael's POV. He lives in a city controlled by "High Ones" who used to be regular men before they drank from a magical substance (the blood of Erran) and became more than just immortal - also very powerful with enhanced abilities. As a little boy he was selected to be the apprentice of  Xian a very known and appreciated Assassin. He hoped to please his master and be turned by him to be a High One as well, but he mostly wanted to warship Xian. He was obsessed with him, enamored with him. He wanted to be by his side no matter what. But when the test came he failed and was thrown to the lower city to fend for himself. For the first time in his life he was left master-less, all alone without the one man who meant the world to him. 

Luna and the Lie by Mariana Zapata

Another OUTSTANDING book by Mariana. If you're into "slow burn" and even if you aren't I HIGHLY recommend you give this one (or any other book by Mariana) a go. As with her other books we only get the feminine side of the story with SUCH a beautiful buildup, both of the relationship as  well as personal growth as this book takes a few months and that's without counting the time both MC have known each other before our starting point.

Luna Allen had a difficult life growing up. It's more than she was just "unwanted" by her family, she was neglected and abused. Now ten years later she is in a totally different place and she has her own 2 hands and 10 fingers to thank for. Yeah, she had help from friends who were SO much more than her family ever was but still she managed to build a life for herself as well as take care of her three younger sisters. It wasn't easy, but she has done well. Lily, the youngest, will  be following her older sisters' footsteps and getting into college. Well, Luna didn't have time for studies, but she made sure her siblings did. She found her calling in CCC a repair garage where she paints cars. It doesn't sound glamorous, but she is good at her job, she actually enjoys her work and (almost) all the people she works with, especially Mr. Cooper the owner who has become the father she could have only wished for.