I would very much recommend this novella is an introduction to the writing of Katrina Jackson, with a couple of caveats: it’s very much HFN rather than HEA, and one of the characters is dealing with grief over the loss of a parent.
Also, graphic sex on the page and a bit of cursing.
I am not entirely sure why I got this one, though I have a vague memory of it being one of those, ‘this cute story is on sale right now, grab it’ tweets passing my feed in late December 2021, so I did. And it is a cute story in the “quirky small town” subgenre of romance, and honestly a refreshing take on paranormals.
If you want to skip the review, this is mostly a fluffy, just over category-length, 1 paranormal story with a romance tacked on.
A couple of warnings, though: there’s a history of physical child abuse, which is explained as loving concern (me: hell, no). There are also mentions of traumatic deaths for some of the ghosts in the story, including a suicide and the accidental drug overdose of a teenager.
There really is no rhyme or reason why books languish in my physical and digital TBR Cordilleras of Doom.
Case in point: it had been a long while since I read anything by Jules Jones, though what I have read, I have liked, and there are a number of her works in my digital TBR pile.
So why I haven’t read more of her stuff? (I got nothing¹)
At any rate, back in August 2017, Ms Jones very kindly sent me a copy of this anthology for review. And while my reading has been iffy at best for a long time now, I read all nine stories in the book in one sitting just a few days after that.
Sadly, then the “can’t write to save my life” curse struck, fueled by current events, and here we are now, nine months later. ::guilty wince::
Warning: there is explicit sex and some light kink in all of these. If that’s not your thing, stop here. None of these are genre romance stories, with HEA/HFN, though all are full of hope and joy. Also, Jules Jones and Storm Duffy are two writing facets of the same author.
Stormy Nights, by Jules Jones and Stormy Duffy
This is a collection of nine short stories of varying lengths and genres; some are very romantic, some are more short erotic vignettes than stories, and one is an incredibly poignant fantasy with very strong romantic elements. There are merpeople, and fae, and just plain contemporaries.
In competition for the shortest blurb EVER:
Sex and love, lies and truth, shades in between. Happy endings and might-have-beens. Nine tales of these things between men.
"A review is at its heart the expression of the reviewer’s opinion–in this case, my opinion. Regardless of how the book in question ended up in my hands, I will not insult your intelligence by assuming that you will blindly buy any book I like, or that you’ll avoid reading any book I don’t like. Instead, I’ll give you credit for making up your own mind, and buying and/or reading whatever you think you’ll enjoy."
Please be aware that some of the books I review, talk about, or plain mention in passing, in this blog, have been given to me by the author, or someone else on behalf of the author, with the express purpose that I review them. (Those reviews are tagged ARC or review copy.)
There really is no rhyme or reason why books languish in my physical and digital TBR Cordilleras of Doom.
Her Hands, My Hands 