Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Victoria has just lost her father in a terrible accident and her brother is lying in a come from which he is unlikely to ever wake again. One day she has a dream, a beautiful women appears to her and tells her she was sent from her brother's kingdom. And even though Victoria doesn't want to believe it at first, after a couple of meetings and various kinds of proof she starts to trust Ashlinn.

The Cover is gorgeous and I love Calista's writing style, it's really nice to read.

I did like Victoria as a character and I understood why she acted the way she acted in terms of recent trauma, but at times it was hard to really feel anything for her as the book seemed rushed.

It is a really nice book for anyone who might be confused about what asexuality is, or who might think they are ace themselves.

I was incredible happy about the representation (Ashlinn is also a black girl, so that was nice!) but I had quite a few problems with the story.

The world building is sadly incredible lacking. There are so many questions left. How does the dream world work? I would have loved more information on Semira. How does Victoria manage to lucid dream all the time? What exactly is the dream lore? Explain please! The romance between them seems rushed as well. I get why that happened, the book is only 180 pages long, but it all could have been dealt with so much better, so it's a bit disappointing.

So all in all the book is nice, but far too short and many things could have been discussed in more depth.

The ending was very nice though.

Why I read it: The gorgeous cover! A book about ace lesbians! Have I mentioned how gorgeous the cover is?
Do I recommend it: If you enjoy a dreamy romance novel (ha see what I did there?), go for it.

Review crossposted to my blog here

Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First off I want to give you a little warning. The book deals with a bunch of heavy topics, such as child sexual abuse & incest, rape, drug abuse, child abuse, anti-semitism (a tiny bit), abortion and abusive relationships.

A brutally honest memoir about growing up as a jewish lesbian in the 1950s.

Janet's life was never easy. The youngest of six children, she always had to wear Hand-me-Downs, her oldest sister was more of a mother to her than her real mother. Still her mother held a firm grip on her family and even beat her children at times. When her father died her mother got a lobotomy to deal with her depression and afterwards her family life was a bit calmer. Even though she isn't religious, she is still "visible" jewish and has to deal with anti-semitic remarks. She was assaulted when she was 14 and often coerced into sex or outright raped afterwards.

Around 19 she figures out that she might not be entirely straight and goes to sex clubs to at least get the chance to be intimate with women.

The book is very descriptive, which made it at points hard for me to read,but I adored the honesty. I also always enjoy to learn more about LGBT history.

While the writing style is not very prosaic or anything, it feels real and I enjoyed the book. It's a quick read, but a hard one and I had to take a couple of breaks to deal with all the things that were happening.

All in all the book was very shocking at times, but I honestly admire Janet for being that open. It was a challenging read, but I enjoyed it and I feel incredible happy that Janet is doing better now. I also admire her strength, especially since she went on to work with HIV positive people in the UK, which surely was no easy job.

Why I read it: A memoir about a lesbian growing up during the 1950s? Sounds interesting!

Do I recommend it: If you enjoy biographies/memoirs and are not sensitive to any of the triggers mentioned above yes.

Review crossposted to my blog here

Disclaimer: I recieved an e-copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

An amnesic ghost is stuck in a gigantic villa with no idea how he died, why he died or what he is trying to achieve by staying on earth. All he can do to deal with his boredom is read the libraries books as they are the only thing he can touch. That isn't that big of a problem until a family moves into the house. Now Rupert, the ghost, has to figure all these questions out to finally remember his life.

He feels immediately interested by Aaron, a young artist. The boy reminds him of someone from his past life and slowly with the help of his ghostly After-Life therapist he starts to remember. It won't be an easy journey.

Rupert also meets three other ghosts, send by the Necromancer, who offers to help him get his revenge.Our Horror Trio is always a source of amusement, but they fit well within the novel.
The book is based on unsolved mysteries connected to JM Barrie and the Davies family, who served as an inspiration for Peter Pan. The story is made even more moving as it is also based on Jonathan, his husband Aaron and their relationship, which makes this book incredible personal and makes it feel very real.

I absolutely adored the choice of POV even though I'm not always a fan of First Person. But in this case it felt realistic and was nice to read, probably due to it being #ownvoices. The sometimes odd choice of words felt very realistic as well considering it was about a ghost who died in 1917.

The lore based around the ghostey after-life was nice thought out and i liked the world building as well.

One thing I didn't quite enjoy was (once again) the Insta-Love. They met and already they are kissing. It does however make sense considering they fact that Rupert and Aaron are soulmates, though I would have loved to hear if they already lived a former past life together.

There are some amazing plot twists but they all make sense in the book and the book is long enough to truly explain what happens, nothing feels rushed. At first it was kind of hard to get into the book and it felt a bit drawn out but after the first 30 pages or so I wasn't able to put the book down anymore.

I also absolutely enjoyed all the Peter Pan references.

This book broke my heart but in a good way! I laughed, I cried, I had such an amazing time reading this book. It's just lovely! All in all i guess you could say this book truly lifted my spirits ;D

Why I read it: a paranormal gay romance!! written by #ownvoices!!! Do i honestly need to say more?

Do I recommend it: Did you read the above?! Yes!!! It's also wonderfully written and an amazing YA, a nice mix of historical fiction, murder mystery and paranormal soulmate romance!!

Review crossposted to my blog here

It's more of a 3.5 rating.

Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A religious demon fighting vampire, who kills demons for the Catholic Church. Or more accurate for a group called White Monks. His goal is redemption and a new chance for his immortal soul. But when a mistake is made and his new Personal Assistant turns out to be a men it all gets way more confusing and difficult. Does he still want to work with the Catholic Church in exchange for his immortal soul or does he want to follow his heart?

Sara thinks he is just there to be a Personal Assistant. You know, take phone calls, write e-mails, that kind of stuff. However after Thaddeus saves him from a demon he realizes that his new boss is not quite human. Still he wants to assist and not just help his boss with his "Special Diet".

On top of all this, Thaddeus Manager Ms. Alves is nowhere to be found. Together they embark on a trip to find the truth.

Even though a split POV is something that is often overdone, it worked well with this novel, as we got great insight in both characters, which I enjoyed a lot. Thaddeus also often used French Exclamations in his POVs, which is nice, but at times confusing.

I liked that Sara was raised Hindu, even though he isn't practicing at first, there are many references to his faith later on. I also enjoyed the fact that Nohea, a black woman, liked women, even though it was only mentioned in passing.

The story was fast paced and there was a lot of witty remarks towards the demons, which I enjoyed.

However at points characters appeared and then disappeared and left loose ends which confused me. The ending is also very abrupt. Not a cliffhanger, just sudden.

I enjoyed the book for the most part though, even though there are still some questions to be answered, which will probably happen in the next book.

Why I read it: It sounded interesting

Do I recommend it: If you enjoy paranormal gay romance with a bit of will-they-wont-they and murderous demons, read this book.

Review crossposted to my blog here

Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Grey, a third-generation immigrant from Haiti, is heavily depressed and feels empty. Not even art, which made the pain easier to deal with for a while, can save him forever. After a failed suicide attempt he meets Saint, a banished fae who needs life force to survive. The two men make a deal, Grey's life to prolong Saint's. This is the first time Saint has been open about what he is. He doesn't know who made him this way, just that all his former lovers died because he loved them, but as he and Grey start to grow closer, he no longer wants to take his life, even if it will mean his own death.

Grey's story felt very real, his struggle is not gone one day, his depression not cured by True Love. The long hard way of getting better is described, with medication and therapy as options. Grey also practices vodou, which plays a big part in the story as does haitian lore. It was fascinating to read and to see this religion presented by #ownvoices.

Saint is weighted down by the cost of his long life. Every twenty years he has to kill somebody whom he loves, or he will grow weak. Someday in the 18th century he had woken up on the street, fallen in love and seen his lover slowly waste away. Again and again this repeated until Saint finally figured out that he was at fault for their deaths.
The writing was gorgeous. It was quite lyrical, but not in a forced way, which made the book very nice to read. The book also managed to show how serious depression is, without sugar coating it, nor making the book to heavy to read.

The book deals with depression a lot, which is incredible important, especially since the main character is a black man. I also loved that there where trigger warnings and an epilogue with helpful links for people who suffer from Depression. Depression and Suicidal thoughts are discussed in great detail but not romanticized. Same thing with medication and therapy. You could definitely feel that the book was #ownvoices, both in the romance and in the mental illness aspects.

I felt a bit disappointing at the big time skip scene, but I understood why it happened, since most stuff during these two months was probably kind of repetitive. But I would have loved to see a bit more of them being together.

However the ending is amazing, and i laughed and cried a few times and i just loved the book! Definitely one of my favorite recent reads. If I could give it more than five stars I would.
Why I read it: A book with a depressed MC? And it doesn't sound like a "Romantic Love Cures Everything" kind of story? Yes, please!

Do I recommend: Yes, absolutely. If you read (m/m) romance you should read this. If you try to read #ownvoices, you should read this. Just please make sure you read the trigger warnings. (Plus the cover is so nice?!)

Review crossposted to my blog here