Reviewed by Kat   TITLE: Pride and Power SERIES: Secret Springs (Book 4) AUTHOR: Minerva Howe PUBLISHER: Turtlehat Creatives LENGTH: 288 pages RELEASE DATE: May 24, 2022 BLURB: Andrew McGarry has been running the city offices of Secret Springs for a while now, ever since the mayor had to leave town in the midst of a family scandal. He's known all along that he would have to work with whoever ended up filling the role, but he's not sure what to do with construction contractor Kynan Tierney.

Book Title: Beyond The Darkness (Basic Instincts Book 3) Author: Thom Collins Publisher: Entwined Publishing Cover Artist: Kelly Martin Release Date: October 7, 2025 Genres: Contemporary MM Romance, Crime and thriller Tropes: Celebrity, murder mystery, Erotic romance, Suspense Themes: Theatre, stalking Length: 64 453 words/259 pages It is a standalone story that is part of a wider series (Basic Instincts)

Reviewed by Sadonna TITLE:  Conditioning Loan AUTHORS: L.A. Witt PUBLISHER: GallagherWitt Publishing LLC LENGTH: 154 Pages RELEASE DATE:  October 7, 2025 BLURB: When a hockey star asks him to dance at a club, minor league forward Taylor Wilson is thrilled. Maybe that cute teammate who laughed in his face was wrong after all, and he is good enough for someone.

Reviewed by Taylin TITLE: The Tex Hex SERIES: Bitches with Stitches #3 AUTHOR: Raquel Riley PUBLISHER: Self-Published LENGTH: 288 Pages RELEASE DATE: September 30, 2025 BLURB: The whole world is burning around me, and the only man who can put out the fire has me friend-zoned. Tex Twink. Flirt. Pushover. Shallow. That’s what they see—a pretty face, a carefree smile.

Reviewed by Jen TITLE:  Rio SERIES: Redcars #3 AUTHOR: R.J. Scott PUBLISHER: Love Lane Books LENGTH: 372 pages RELEASE DATE: September 26, 2025 BLURB: Hunted by killers. Protected by a monster. Lyric Thornwood is on the run, his name stamped on a kill order flooding the dark web. Someone inside the system wants him erased—and Marcus Kessler, the billionaire who twisted Lyric’s stolen code into the murderous AI LyricNight, is hunting him like prey.

Reviewed by Mal TITLE: Just This Once SERIES: Men of Port Luck #1 AUTHOR: Garrett Leigh PUBLISHER: Self Published LENGTH: 379 Pages RELEASE DATE: October 2, 2025 BLURB: Love hurts. Love heals. Love stays. The Men of Porth Luck series is a steamy, gritty, and emotional MM small-town romance collection chock full of angst, deep connections, and healing soulmate love.

Reviewed by Sadonna TITLE:  Rough Draft AUTHORS: R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey PUBLISHER: Love Lane Books Ltd LENGTH: 204 Pages RELEASE DATE:  October 7, 2025 BLURB: Success isn’t measured in goals or stats; it’s a rough draft waiting to be rewritten. Walker Hannan was supposed to be the next big thing in the NHL. But instead of carving out a legendary career, he's been sent down to the minors to fix his game—and his attitude.

Reviewed by Mal TITLE: The Island AUTHOR: Briar Prescott PUBLISHER: Self Published LENGTH: 552 Pages RELEASE DATE: September 30, 2025 BLURB: My heart is in his hands, and he doesn’t even know it. Adrian Elias Olsen crashed into my world like a wrecking ball—adventurous, carefree, and impossible to resist. He gave me a home, a family, and a place to belong.

Reviewed by Kat   TITLE: Home for Ryan SERIES: Secret Springs: Home for… (Book 1) AUTHOR: Minerva Howe PUBLISHER: Turtlehat Creatives LENGTH: 110 pages RELEASE DATE: March 29, 2022 BLURB: Ryan feels pretty lucky to have found Secret Springs and his job working for Fuel Comfort Food as a caterer. He was on the run from a bad relationship when he did, and it's taken some time for him to come out of the shell he was put into by his ex.

Reviewed by True TITLE: Marry Me, Maybe? SERIES: Bristlecone Springs #2 AUTHOR: Sage Abbott aka Gianni Holmes PUBLISHER: Coco Nutz Publishing LENGTH: 500 pages RELEASE DATE: October 7, 2025 BLURB: Hudson Granger was mine for one summer. And one summer was enough to ruin me for anyone else. On my father’s ranch, we worked side by side. Rode hard. Kissed harder.

Tell us a little about yourself. I’m a nonbinary (gender fluid fae tomboy) queer writer and performer, currently in Portugal, though I spent most of the summer paddle boarding in Scotland, the spring paddle boarding in Ireland and the winter in Malta. I also made the web series Assigned Female at Birth and LOVE writing and directing my own work.

Reviewed by Sadonna TITLE:  Script Swap SERIES:  The Last Picks AUTHOR:  Gregory Ashe PUBLISHER:  Hodgkin & Blount LENGTH:  278 pages RELEASE DATE: October 6, 2025 BLURB: They say the show must go on. Thank goodness for intermission. Dashiell Dawson Dane isn’t thrilled that a new play at the community theater is based (however loosely) on his life. But when Dash’s friend Fox asks him to attend opening night, things take a strange turn: the actor playing Dash’s role seems to have been given a different script.

Reviewed by Kat   TITLE: Moody as a Minotaur SERIES: Willow Lake Pack (Book 1) AUTHOR: Lori Ames PUBLISHER: November Snow LENGTH: 396 pages RELEASE DATE: October 1, 2025 BLURB: Magic isn't real, is it? Parker’s intuition has been itching for months—no, it’s probably closer to years—telling him something isn’t quite right in Willow Lake. But sometimes it’s safer to ignore the feeling than expose truths you don’t want to face.

SERIES TOUR and NEW RELEASE #1. Tell us a little about yourself. I’m a Bulgarian bilingual author. I write books in Bulgarian and English. My genres are epic fantasy with a gay power couple and historical fiction from a female point of view. I live in Bulgaria and enjoy spending time in the Bulgarian mountains, writing and hiking. #2. Do you have a favorite quote (either from your own books or one’s you’ve read)?

Reviewed by Ro TITLE:  Feels Like Home AUTHOR: Casey Cox PUBLISHER: Self Published LENGTH: 321 Pages RELEASE DATE: October 6, 2025 BLURB: Doctor x firefighter in a steamy, small-town, friends-to-lovers MM romance... Courtland I swear I'm not deliberately avoiding telling my best friend I'm in love with him. Life just has a funny way of getting in the way…for the last fifteen years or so.

Title: Spellbound Author: Mychael Black Cover Art: Angela Knight Genres: Action Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Mystery & Suspense, New Releases, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy Themes: Dark Romance, LGBTQ+ /Gay, LGBTQ+ /Sex/Gender Shifters & MPreg, Murder Mystery, Vampires Series: Splintered Bloodlines (#2) Book Length: Novella Page Count: 74 Description A ritual decades ago leads Beau to the one person he never expected to meet: his fated mate.

Here are the new releases for the week. Let us know if there's something missing & we'll add it to the list. Title Author Publisher Release Date Other Details Link Script Swap Gregory Ashe Hodgkin & Blount 10/6/2025 The Last Picks #11 Amazon Destined Prey Bailey Bradford Self Published 10/6/2025 Wild Ones #1 Amazon

Welcome to the September 2025 Audio Book of the Month Poll! Here are all our Audio Reviews rated 4 hearts and up from the previous month, in no particular order. Please vote for your favorites. As with all of our Polls, you can vote for as many as you want, but you only get one visit, so make it count!

Book of the Week Poll Welcome to the Love Bytes Book of the Week Poll! Here are the books which achieved a 4.25 and up review last week from our reviewers. As a reminder, the top two books from each week’s poll will roll into our Book of the Month poll at month’s end. Happy Voting! Please scroll to the very bottom for the voting section…

Book of the Week Winners! Here are the winning books of this week’s Book of the Week Poll. Both will go through to the Book of the Month Poll Reviewed by Lady Macbeth TITLE: Slew Foot SERIES: Scoring Chances #3 AUTHOR: Brigham Vaughn PUBLISHER: Self Published LENGTH: 500 Pages RELEASE DATE: September 19, 2025 RATING:  BUY LINK: Amazon Reviewed by Kat TITLE: Just One Night AUTHOR: Felice Stevens PUBLISHER: Good Man Press LENGTH: 325 pages RELEASE DATE: November 2, 2022 RATING:  BUY LINKS: Amazon

Reviewed by Sadonna TITLE:  Leave AUTHOR:   L.A. Witt NARRATORS:  Michael Ferraiuolo & Greg Boudreaux PUBLISHER:  Self-published LENGTH:  11 hours and 50 minutes RELEASE DATE:  September 23, 2025 BLURB: Call it a situationship, call it roommates with benefits—whatever it is, Riley Sweet is mostly fine with the arrangement. After all, he's got an awesome off-base apartment on Okinawa, and he's got someone to hook up with on the regular with no pressure and no strings.

Reviewed by Anna Lynn TITLE: Fire and Smoke SERIES: Nothing Special IX AUTHOR: A.E. Via PUBLISHER: Self Published LENGTH: 322 Pages RELEASE DATE: September 30, 2025 BLURB: “A ruthless meth dealer is torching Atlanta’s streets, and God and Day are striking back with two of Hollywood’s legendary pyro experts.” The war raging through Atlanta isn’t just about drugs—it’s about power, leverage, and survival.

Reviewed by Kat   TITLE: Fire and Ice SERIES: Secret Springs (Book 3) AUTHOR: Minerva Howe PUBLISHER: Turtlehat Creatives LENGTH: 247 pages RELEASE DATE: January 18, 2022 BLURB: Chase Deveraux thinks food is love, and while he'd enjoy some fun games with a once in awhile friend with benefits, his business is the most important thing in his life. Between his pop-up restaurant, his catering gigs, and feeding all his friends, this Harley riding, trust fund bad boy has no time for love.

Tell us a little about yourself. Ruta: I am in my fifties. I am married with one human kid, and five fur babies. I am still close to my sisters: Oliana, and Sina, the rabid squirrel. We talk weekly and see each other several times a year. Also, I go on yearly vacation trips with my sisters and their families, My husband and I feed stray animals and other wildlife in our neighborhood.

Reviewed by True TITLE: Jacked SERIES: Gymbos #1 AUTHOR: K.M. Neuhold PUBLISHER: Self-Published LENGTH: 275 pages RELEASE DATE: October 3, 2025 BLURB: I'm starting to think hooking up with my gym bro roommate might be kind of gay… The thing about guys is that we communicate on a physical, primal level. A hearty slap on the backside just means “good game, bro”.