Reviews by Tammy and Kim

Under Water
Storm Season #2
E.M. Lindsey
Amazon
October 26, 2026

Why you need to #ONECLICK this book…

Rivals to Lovers

Friends with Benefits

Single Dad MC

Fake Dating

Workplace Romance

Forced Proximity

Only One Bed

MM Romance

That’s it. My co-worker has to die. There’s no other way around it. If I have to spend one more day cleaning up his mess—no matter how good he makes the mess look—I’m going to lose it.

My life is complicated enough with a soon-to-be ex-husband who won’t accept the marriage is over, a medically complex son, and a job I can’t seem to get away from. I really don’t need to keep nurturing this crush on the very obnoxious, very good looking, very straight firefighter.

It’s too bad Easton’s beloved around the station.

It’s too bad my kid also loves him.

It’s too bad he’s starting to make me feel like there’s hope for something more.

Especially when my life gets turned upside down after my ex starts stalking me, and my kid has a near-death experience. I’ve only ever relied on myself to get out of these messes, but now Easton’s making it seem like I can drop my guard.

But I know better than that. The moment I do, everything will go to hell.

So why does he keep showing up every time I need him? And why does he make me feel like, for the first time in my life, I can breathe under water?

Under Water is the second book in the Storm Season series. It’s a workplace rivals to lovers romance with a grumpy IT-guy single dad, a sunshine firefighter, a bi-awakening, baby ducks, a snarky pre-teen who sees way too much, and a steamy, swoony, happily ever after.

Easton has always claimed he was the straight guy at the fire station. He’s handsome, outgoing, sunshiny, and a bit clumsy. But the fact that he’s telling himself he just has a man crush on one of the tech guys who seems to openly hate him gets him thinking, especially when he starts thinking more impure thoughts about him.

Rune is an ex-firefighter, now a tech guru for the station. He’s got his hands full with a son with medical needs, a vengeful ex, and work. He is private, grumpy, overwhelmed, and resists help. He is also trying to manage his huge crush on the station's cutest "straight" guy, Easton. Rune's way of handling it is giving off dislike and irritation vibes since Easton's always messing up his computers.

But there seems to be a lot of unresolved sexual tension and what they assume are ill-advised crushes between them. Until a certain situation makes them actually talk and listen to each other and then realize that things weren’t always what they seemed with either of them. Both of them have a protective streak, but I love seeing Easton take up for Rune, who’s always had to be the protector of everyone else. And this is Easton's first experience with a man in any way, so I enjoyed seeing them explore his firsts and how patient Rune could be with him. I really loved these two together. Even though they were an unlikely pair just due to their history, personalities, and circumstances, they really gave each other what they didn't expect but really needed. They balance, support, complement each other well, and help each other feel better about themselves and their self-worth.

I really liked Rune’s snarky son, Elio, and his relationship with his dad, and also how Easton bonded with him. He is such a special character, and he often had me smiling when there was not surrounding drama. This is an enemies, coworkers, single dad, bi-awakening, first times, forced proximity, grumpy-sunshine love story set around a small town and firehouse. There are some threats, tension, and suspenseful situations woven throughout the story that keep it moving.

It brings back all the guys from the first book, and there really are a lot of interesting characters with some different challenges, so I have a feeling there’s going to be a few more books in the series, and I am here for it. This author always does a good job helping people with challenges and differing abilities find love and acceptance while making the medical issues realistic.

Don't Fall

Storm Season #1
Amazon
Kim's 4.5 star review

Why you need to #ONECLICK this book…

🔥Enemies to Lovers

🔥Forced Proximity

🔥Only One Bed

🔥Praise Kink

🔥Grumpy/Sunshine

🔥Grumpy falls first

🔥Hate Sex

🔥Best Friend's Brother

🔥MM Romance

That’s it. My neighbor has to die. There’s no other way around it. The man must be killed—and I’ll even find a way to do it gently, but this cannot go on.

Okay, maybe I’m a bit dramatic, but living next to my brother’s best friend who decided to befriend the crows that spend all week spreading garbage across my lawn is not what I signed up for.

I wanted quiet.

I wanted peace.

I wanted to stop fantasizing about the gorgeous man I couldn’t stand.

Unfortunately for me, North is a big presence with an annoyingly sunny smile and a way of making life sound like it’s worth living. And as a widower who wants to spend the rest of my life wallowing, the last person I want around is one who makes me question my new life’s purpose.

But these feelings can’t be real, can they? I had my great love, and I lost him. So that’s supposed to be it for me.

Isn’t that the way things go?

I can’t seem to stay away from North, even when I know I should. And when he starts to make me feel like maybe there’s another happily ever after out there, I find that as cautious as I’ve taken each step, I’m on the verge of falling once more.

Don’t Fall is the first book in the small town, enemies to lovers, heavy yearning, MM romance series, Storm Season. It features a virgin EMT whose smile is hiding a lot of things, a disgruntled, grieving writer who just wants solid sleep and a good meal, neighborhood crows

Meet E.M. Lindsey:

E.M. Lindsey is a Romance author, an ancient historian, and avid lover of nerdy things. EM lives on the East Coast of the United States.

Connect with E.M. Lindsey:

https://linktr.ee/emlindseyauthor

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The Lockdown Mann
Necessary Roughness #2
Riley Hart

Amazon
October 22, 2026

Desmond

I was sixteen years old when I met Oakley Manning during a family beach vacation. He was funny, gorgeous, as obsessed with football as I was, and hurting after his mom abandoned him.

For two weeks, we were inseparable. Oakley made me feel complete, settling something inside me.

Then one night, I kissed him…and he kissed me back.

When he walked away afterward, I pretended it hurt less than it did. It’s a lesson that’s stuck with me—the people I want never choose me back.

Oakley

Everything about what I shared with Desmond Jackson was perfect.

Then, on the last morning of our trip, my ex-girlfriend-slash-best friend dropped a bomb: “I’m pregnant.” For the sake of the baby, we decided to make it work.

Eleven years later, Serena and I are still best friends, but our relationship is over, though we haven’t told anyone. Between her mom’s recent diagnosis and our daughter, we aren’t ready for more complications.

Enter Des, recently traded to L.A.’s second pro football team—my team being the first. Now he’s always in my periphery, infuriating and needling me…and still capable of making my pulse race. Our chemistry is as combustive as ever. Des worships my body in ways I’ve never experienced, but he doesn’t believe in forever, and I can’t do casual.

We compete at everything, but he doesn’t know he’s already won my heart. I just hope it’s a prize he wants…and that my world won’t implode if I have him.

The Lockdown Mann is a second-chance romance between two professional football players, with a complicated history and an even more complicated present. Expect banter, anonymous online messaging, and heart. There is no cheating in this book.

Graphics From author's Facebook

Desmond and Oakley met on a beach vacation when they were sixteen years old, and they formed a fast friendship that turned into first kisses and feelings, but circumstances made it unsustainable. Their lives went in different directions, but they've now ended up in the same place, which is playing professional football in Los Angeles, but for two different teams. And now they have shared friends, and they’re in closer proximity.

There were a lot of unresolved feelings between them that they never really addressed, so most of their recent interactions have been more taunting or competitive or just a little bit awkward. But now they’ve decided they need to clear the air and figure it out. There’s a lot more going on in Oakley‘s life than most people know, and for some reason Desmond has always been a safe space for Oakley to share issues. Desmond is guarding his heart because he got his heart broken by Oakley and then by being a secret for someone else, so he keeps things close to the chest and always feels like the one that nobody chooses.

They both are still kind of obsessed with each other, and when things escalate, it just ignites those feelings, and they continue to get closer and closer. But Oakley is keeping secrets from everyone, and Des doesn’t want to be a long-term secret. And there have been certain things from their past and their present that they really haven’t admitted to each other due to misconceptions of the other's thoughts and feelings. There is fear of saying or doing the wrong thing.

But in order to get around their issues, they figure if they can just have a sexy fling, maybe they can actually explore and enjoy that aspect together and keep it contained. But these two have always had issues managing their feelings about each other, even if they were trying to deny it.

This is a second-chance romance between pro football players with a hurt-comfort component, strong physical chemistry, and two guys who just want to be free to explore their potential and not cause repercussions. But it’s messy and complicated, and there’s a lot at stake. And they’ve already been through the loss of each other once, and they really don’t want to end up in the same place again.

I enjoyed more with Hunter and Lucas from the first book and I am looking forward to the next book that was teased.

The Comeback King

Necessary Roughness #1
Riley Hart
June 17, 2026

Amazon

Goodreads

Sports Romance

Big Feels

Secret Relationship

Forbidden Relationship

Brother's ex-boyfriend/ex-boyfriend's brother

Pining

Lucas

To my dad, Hunter King is a football prodigy destined for greatness.

The son he always wanted.

To me, Hunter King is the guy I’ve loved most of my life.

The guy who happens to be my dead brother’s boyfriend.

We were kids when Hunter came into our lives—the boy with the skill my brother didn’t have and the drive I lacked. The one who was always kind to me, who cared about my photography when to my dad, it was a hobby, not worth anyone’s time.

Looking at the world through the lens of my camera is the only thing I’ve ever wanted.

Other than Hunter King.

Hunter

I would be nothing without the Blakes. Coach Blake nurtured my football talent from high school through college and now professionally. For all intents and purposes, he was my father. And when I started dating his son Ellis, it felt like I truly became part of the family.

But since Ellis died, nothing feels right anymore—not even the game I’ve always loved.

Until Lucas walks back into my life.

With each lingering touch, I feel sensation returning. Every kiss breathes air into my lungs. And for the first time in three years, it feels like my heart starts beating again.

But with every embrace, I’m betraying Ellis’s memory. The media, my team, Coach Blake will all condemn me. I’ll no longer be their Comeback King. I’ll be the man who is sleeping with his dead boyfriend’s brother.

Yet none of it is enough to make me stop.

Riley Hart

Riley Hart’s love of all things romance shines brightly in everything she writes. Her primary focus is Male/Male romance but under various pen names, her prose has touched practically every part of the spectrum of love and relationships. The common theme that ties them all together is stories told from the heart.

A hopeless romantic herself, Riley is a lover of character-driven plots, many with flawed and relatable characters. She strives to create stories that readers can not only fall in love with, but also see themselves in. Real characters and real love blended together equal the ultimate Riley Hart experience.

When Riley isn’t creating her next story, you can find her reading, traveling, or dreaming about reading or traveling, and spending time with her two perfectly snarky kids, and one swoon-inducing husband.

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CHARLIE

Hockey Bros #2
Beth Bolden
Amazon

October 22, 2026

There’s nothing Charlie Barnes has wanted more than to play hockey with his brothers. Avery, Charlie and Ethan have been dreaming about uniting the Barnes brothers on one team since they were barely old enough to hold a hockey stick.

When Avery’s traded to the Bandits mid-season, it should be the happiest day of Charlie’s life. Charlie loves having his big brother around again, but not everything is roses and sunshine.

Charlie’s best friend Max—and the guy he’s secretly been in love with since his rookie season—is suddenly challenged by the team, the media and the fans to step up and be better leadership material than the newest Barnes addition. Everyone’s tired of the Bandits losing and the big trade means that winning is no longer optional.

Being captain of the New York Bandits isn’t always easy, but Max Meier loves it. Loves the team and his teammates enough to give up his dreams of playing hockey in his native Germany.

But there’s nobody he loves more than Charlie Barnes. He never dreamt Charlie might return his feelings, until a leaked video makes it crystal clear Charlie feels the same.

It’s a challenge, navigating the intense politics of a hockey team, even without the big brother of your unrequited crush hovering over your shoulder.

This time, though, Max is determined to ace every test, score the goal, and win Charlie, once and for all

Name graphics from Author's Facebook

Well, from the first book, I just assumed that Charlie and Max were just completely oblivious idiots who did not know they were in love. But there was more to it and in this one, OMG, these two were just killing me. Or really, Charlie was.

Charlie Barnes had been conditioned by his father to be the perfect hockey-playing machine, avoid distractions, and win. He has internalized this pressure so much and tried not to make mistakes. He was used to taking the attention to protect his siblings. He has many aspects of his personality. He can appear cocky, confident, and a diva on the ice. But he is also kind, sweet, loyal, and sunshiny. But in trying to be the perfect son, he can be anxious and bows down to pressure, and he denied himself something he really wanted.

Max told Charlie how he felt three years ago, and he was disappointed that Charlie denied he felt the same. Max and Charlie were able to come back to a very close, even touchy-feely friendship. Max is the team captain who tries to be good, positive, and fair. He has been understanding and has done what he could to still have Charlie in his life as much as possible.

But when Charlie's true feelings from back then are outed in a public way, Max is hurt, and Charlie is mortified. Charlie does not want to lose Max, but he is also afraid to take the leap. And now that Max knows it was not all one-sided, he is not sure he can maintain their friendship as it was. He has always been patient, but now he might be ready to push back a bit more.

The back and forth and the pining was killing me...and them...and their teammates.

Charlie will have to decide what he can live with and without. If Max would be a distraction or if they could be even stronger and better if really together. This is a story of best friends and teammates, hidden love and second chances. But is also Charlie's growth arc and embracing his own needs and standing up for himself while also improving his relationships with his brothers.

This brings back Ethan and Tucker from the first book, and there is a tie-in with another book. I am looking forward to big brother, Avery's book as his story has been teased, and I am here for the antagonism and angst.

Hockey Bros

ETHAN

Hockey Bros #1

Amazon

Kim's 4.5 star review

Tropes: double bisexual awakening, player x player, black cat x golden retriever, grumpy x sunshine, pining/yearning

There’s nothing Ethan Barnes has wanted more than to play hockey with his brothers. Avery, Charlie and Ethan have been dreaming about uniting the Barnes brothers on one team since they were barely old enough to hold a hockey stick.

Starting his rookie season on the New York Bandits, Ethan’s finally going to get the chance to play with his brother Charlie. But while Charlie’s great—a fantastic roommate, a better teammate, and a damn good forward—it turns out the guy Ethan’s really interested in doesn’t have a last name of Barnes.

Hank Tucker’s been working his ass off for two years to make the Bandits opening roster as one of their starting defensemen. What he needs is determination, hard work and focus.

What he doesn’t need is a rookie forward with a famous last name, who, since the first time they met at development camp last year, has permanently moved into his thoughts with his rumpled curls and magnetic smiles and killer body. No matter how grumpy Hank is or how determined he is to shake him, Ethan’s sunshine ends up buried deep under Hank’s skin.

Hank’s always been sure he was straight. But Ethan tempts him and entices him and ultimately, makes himself so irresistible Hank’s got no shot at holding back.

Especially when it turns out that Ethan’s not just been working hard to make a spot on the Bandits’ roster but in Hank’s bed, too.

AVERY

Hockey Bros #3

Amazon
January 31, 2027

Final book of the Hockey Bros series, featuring the oldest Barnes brother, Avery.

There’s nothing Avery Barnes has wanted more than to play hockey with his brothers. Avery, Charlie and Ethan have been dreaming about uniting the Barnes brothers on one team since they were barely old enough to hold a hockey stick.

Getting traded to the New York Bandits has made that dream possible, and Avery’s been enjoying every moment of it.

There’s only one wrinkle, and wrinkle’s name is Matt Daniels. AKA Danny.

Danny’s obnoxious and funny and actually kinda hot. But from the moment Avery arrived in New York, Danny’s made it clear that he doesn’t want Avery around.

Doesn’t want Avery interfering with the team. Or with the other guys. Or in games. Or in the locker room. Doesn’t want Avery period since he keeps insisting that he’s straight.

Except that Avery wants him.

He knows he should stay away, that he should give Danny the space to hate him in peace, but his crush—and the looming playoff run they’re all hoping to go on—make both of those impossible.

Beth Bolden

Website | Facebook | Instagram |

A lifelong Oregonian, Beth Bolden has just recently moved to North Carolina with her supportive husband and their sweet kitten, Earl Grey. Beth still believes in Keeping Portland Weird, and intends to be just as weird in Raleigh.

Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published twenty novels and six short stories.

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