The excellent/recommended:

Choke back the tears by Mark Richards***** This detective series just gets better and better. In the words of one reviewer it’s like Rankin’s Rebus books but set in Whitby.

Sell the pig by Tottie Limejuice**** Travel tale with a twist by a FB writer friend under a pseudonym. I enjoyed reading about problems with care homes and problems moving abroad. I have experienced both, and was planning to write a faintly similar book except that our Portuguese home went up in 2017’s wildfire flames and I had to give up the idea.

Hair Balls by Tara Lain**** ‘Just’ an mm romance but the characters are so real and even the very minor ones are interesting. Rick needs a hair, clothes and apartment makeover for his sister’s wedding…

Island Doctor by Sue Brown**** Another of the lovely mm romances set on the Isle of Wight. Yes, just a romance, but the real hero is the island community. The location is lovingly presented and the various extended families are delightful.

An arresting ride by Lissa Kasey**** An exciting sequel to Painting with Fire (which I also loved). Bastian and Charlie are comparatively minor characters in this story of a burnt-out police officer and a horse trainer with a damaged past, but Charlie’s fire fighting is centre stage again.

Code Blue by NR Walker**** Very satisfying and exciting story about a pop star menaced by both stalkers and his own health. In the course of dealing with both problems he falls in love with his security guard. I didn’t want it to end.

Dante by Stella Shaw**** First in the Love at the Haven series and I’ll look for the rest. The rent-boy trope is made more interesting by Dante’s background and the other characters are good too. I did wonder why a collapsing ceiling on the second floor of a three storey building would result in snow on the bed but other than that… (The author also writes as Clare London).

Listen by RJ Scott**** An mm romance that is built around a man’s love for his adopted daughter who is profoundly deaf. Interesting and unusual characters. Well written, as always.

The readable:

The Glamourist by Luanne G Smith*** This is an exciting sequel to The Vine Witch (which I loved) but although I wanted to know what happened I was actually quite disappointed in the story. There was some magic in the first book but in this, all kinds of different magic systems and associated creatures were introduced. They were never integrated into a coherent magical world and I got irritated. I missed the vineyards that were so lovingly portrayed in the first book, and found the depiction of Paris less than stellar. I would, I think, have preferred Elena and Jean-Paul to have their HEA at the end of the first volume and I don’t think I’ll read the next in the series. It also makes me wonder whether the next one in the Raven Song series will be worth my time. There were, too, some annoying Americanisms which could easily have been edited out, and a few instances of shaky vocabulary use.

His Grandfather’s Watch by NR Walker*** Very sweet tale about Callum researching his inherited watch and finding romance in the process, Long short story or short novella – not sure. Well written and will appeal to anyone wanting a fluffy mm romance.

Heir to a Curse by Lissa Kasey*** Beautifully written story with a lot of interesting information about aspects of Asian culture. Zach is an appealing character but I wasn’t so keen on Xiang and might have preferred the plot to go in a different direction. Paranormal elements feature throughout.

Rain Shadow by LA Witt*** Pleasant mm romance set on the north west coast of US. Most of the drama arose from the characters’ personal histories rather than anything exciting happening.

Heartscape by Garrett Leigh*** A well written mm romance set in rural Vermont. Unmemorable apart from an exciting rockfall that was a pivotal plot point.

No fanfiction reviews this month though I’ve downloaded quite a lot of long stories.