Hi all, I hope you had a great week! This weekend I have been at the final GayRomLit Retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona. As I mentioned last week, GRL has always had a special place in my heart. It was my very first book conference and I have meet some of my closest friends over the years at the retreats. I have been every year since the second conference, so maybe it's been 12 years?

Rating: 4 stars Buy Links:  Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Ferris is finishing up college and has been signed by the Bruins to play hockey in the NHL. In the meantime, Ferris lives in his college fraternity house and, while he has made some close friends, he has never had a boyfriend or even been with a guy.

Rating: 4.25 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Weston Lively and Brenner Fleming went to law school together and experienced three intense years of extreme rivalry. Weston inevitably came out on top, something Brenner assumed was due to Weston’s wealthy and politically connected father. Brenner, a former foster child with modest adoptive parents, always looked over his shoulder whenever Weston was in his orbit.

Today I am so pleased to welcome Rayne Hawthorne to Joyfully Jay. Rayne has come to talk to us about their latest release, The Call of Azure. Please join me in giving them a big welcome! Exclusive Excerpt He’s tall and dark and handsome and dressed in skintight, shiny black pants and a magenta corset, of all things, and even though he looks sweaty and panicked and his hair is just a bit longer than it is in my memories and dreams, I know in the blink of an eye that this is the man who dragged me into the bathroom of the jazz club nearly a year ago.

Rating: 4.25 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Working for the Anax of the United States has given Quinn Boucher so much—a place to call home, a sense of belonging, and a guard job he excels at with his aura-sensing skills. But there are downsides. One is that the Anax has been going through changes that concern Quinn and others close to the Anax.

Rating: 4 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Gabriel has never been anyone’s choice. He’s fun and people like hanging out and hooking up with him, but no one has ever wanted to keep him forever. Gabriel is now determined not to fall so easily and he’s giving up on love. He’s going to focus on other things in life, like his performance art, and when he sees a hot guy that night, their encounter will end there and Gabriel will move on.

Rating: 3.25 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Memoirs and biographies aren’t the easiest things to review, because unlike books, you can’t poke at plot holes or judge how realistic a character is. Instead, you can only take the words at face value, even as you know the author is phrasing everything just so, giving themselves grace, and showing us events and people through their very biased lens.

Rating: 4.25 stars Buy Links:  Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Blake Holbrook has moved away from his family home in the Outback to the coast and Barking Beach. He has learned to surf and volunteers with a group that aids the lifeguards on the busy beach. And one particular lifeguard catches his eye, Damian “Damo” Williams. Blake has no idea if Damo even likes guys, but with some encouragement, he works up the nerve to ask him out.

Rating: 4 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Cillian is intrigued by Ollie and he’s trying to understand why. Ollie is sweet and good compared to Cillian. Cillian has grown up around violence his entire life and that’s the life he will stay in. He has responsibilities and obligations, but when Ollie gets hurt, he becomes Cillian’s priority.

Rating: 5 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novella Chih, a Wandering Cleric from the Singing Hills monastery — along with their friend Almost Brilliant (a hoopoe bird with an excellent memory) — has come to the town of Baolin to listen and record stories of the last famine and how the people did and did not survive it.

Today I am so pleased to welcome Chencia C. Higgins to Joyfully Jay. Chencia has come as part of the Coastal Magic Blog Tour to talk to us about her upcoming release, The Ties Between Us. Please join me in giving her a big welcome! Excerpt Catching me easily as if this were a dance we'd done a dozen times, Mistress Jay walked me backward a couple of steps and helped me into the chair I'd abandoned.

Rating: 4.25 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel It is two years after Atrous disbanded and Blake Acosta is just surviving. He still lives with best friend and former bandmate, Luke Dougherty, is dating Luke’s sister, and doesn’t know what to do with himself. When he comes home from a trip and finds Luke in a downward spiral, Blake thinks the best thing to do is take Luke to the cabins.

Rating: 4.5 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel To everyone at Vulture Hollow and in the eponymous motorcycle club (MC), he’s just Creep. He’s the crack shot who melts into any shadow, skitters silently over rooftops, and on the rare occasion that he speaks, never knows quite what to say. Despite his extreme social awkwardness, Creep is a valued member of the MC, offering sniper skills and delivering drug orders to the club's customers.

Rating: 4 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Cordelia is a survivor. After their parents death, Cordelia and her brother Edward were put into a children’s home in London where they only had each other. There was abuse, privation, neglect, and bullying, as other children picked on those younger, weaker, or simply more helpless than themselves.

Rating: 4.25 stars Buy Links:  Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Dash and his friends are going to the new play that is opening at the local community theater owned by Fox's father. Inconveniently for Dash, the play is written by his nemesis, Pippi Parker, and based on his life and experience with Vivienne. The whole town seems to have shown up and it is a surreal experience for Dash.

Rating: 4 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel For Anden, the King of Dawn, there has been little peace since he came to the throne. Having defeated one enemy, he now must contend with the High Queen, Telmaine. On the surface, she seems to wage a war on religious grounds against Vindra, but nothing with Telmaine is quite so straightforward as it seems.

Rating: 4.5 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel This is the third book in the Fang and Fae series, and best enjoyed when read in order. This review may contain some spoilers of previous books, although they are intimated in the book blurb. Gwil Hilt is a vampire who was turned in a dank opium den in the mid-1800s by a sire who was very well placed in society.

Rating: 3.5 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel When Mal gets hurt in the military, he returns to the place that was once home, Porth Luck, although he hates it there. It’s been a long time since he was back and seeing his brother, Jack, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, is difficult for him. Mal doesn’t know where he fits in and with roommates and friends always around, Mal is trying to find his way.

Hi all! I hope you had a great week! This week I am excited to be heading out to the final GayRomLit Retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona. GRL has been an important part of both my book life and my personal one for so many years (I want to say this is my 12th retreat?). I met so many of my closest friends at GRL events and it is hard to believe that this chapter is ending.

Rating: 3.75 stars Buy Links:  Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Slater just moved to Chicago and has found a new roommate, AJ. Slater is a gym bro and is excited to see that AJ is as well. In fact, AJ is even more big and buff than Slater himself. The pair hit it off right away, particularly as they share an interest in working out, watching sports, and hanging with the guys.

Rating: 4.75 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Reece Morgan is a local firefighter with a hot reputation. He’s been in a couple of relationships, but hasn’t found the one and, since he dates around now, people think they know who he is. People see a tattooed, flirty, motorcycle-riding man that lives life fast. Reece likes everyone to think he’s fine with that, but he would certainly like someone to call his own and share all the parts of himself that no one else sees.

Rating: 4.75 stars Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK Length: Novel Ricky has been unlucky in love several times over, trusting men who ultimately stab him in the back. Maybe he does fall too hard, too fast, but it's part of who he is. Plus, all his former roommates seemed to be disgustingly happy with their partners, so Ricky knows true love is out there–and wonders why he seems to be the only person who can't catch it and hold on to it.

Story Rating: 3.5 stars Audio Rating: 4 stars Narrator: Abby Craden Length: 7 hours, 7 minutes Audiobook Buy Links: Amazon/Audible | iBooks Book Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks Viola lives in a world of frustration. She knows magic exists, but it’s just out of reach; she can almost touch it, almost taste it, but it’s always so far away. Viola has gloves and shoes that let her climb impossible towers, and memories of her grandmother’s study with its fascinating books, but the study doesn’t seem to exist in the house anymore.

Hi all! Today we are sharing out favorite books from the month of September. These are the books our reviewers loved the most from what they read last month. We'd love to hear about your favorites as well! Jay's Favorite Books The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish Full Tilt by Becca Seymour Smokescreen by Sam Burns…

Hi all! Today I am excited to share our September favorite covers. These are the covers I loved the most out of the books we reviewed last month. I'd love to hear your favorites as well!