Waiting For Wentworth

Waiting On Wednesday (648) Mystery Magnet (The Last Picks #1) by Gregory Ashe

Mystery Magnet
(The Last Picks #1)
by Gregory Ashe

Published: April 29, 2024

Genre: MM, Romance, Mystery

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings
that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.
(WoW was previously hosted by Breaking The Spine.)

This my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
He was born to write mysteries. Now, he has to solve them.

When Dashiell Dawson Dane moves across the country to a small seaside town called Hastings Rock, he has one get away from his ex. Okay, two goals - because he wouldn't mind a little help from his new boss, celebrity mystery author Vivienne Carver. With Vivienne's mentorship, Dash is sure he can get over this blasted case of writer's block and start telling his own stories again.

The only problem? Vivienne is murdered on Dash's first night at Hemlock House. And when police find a secret passage that connects Dash's bedroom to Vivienne's, they're sure they know who did it. Now Dash has to prove his innocence - and the only way to do that is to figure out who really killed Vivienne Carver.

I've read this author's work before and really enjoyed it. I *think* this may be a 'cozy' series, so something a little different. And he's from here in St. Louis, so that's kinda cool.

What are you waiting on this week?

Max 5/10/2010 - 4/10/2024

We had to say goodbye to our dog last week, so I've been going through it with all the sad feelings. It's hard getting used to him not being around after spending all day, every day of his life with him.

A Spooky Legacy
(The Spectral Files #5)
by S.E. Harmon

Published: April 9, 2024

Genre: Paranormal, Romance, MM

This my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Rain Christiansen is settling into married life with fellow cold case detective, Daniel McKenna, and life is good. Better than good, even. But when it comes to the topic of expanding their family, Rain isn't so sure he's ready. Yes, a new addition could enrich their lives. But it could also tear down the delicate balance they’ve worked so hard to achieve. Do they really want to take that risk?

He’d love to brood over that a little more, but murder never takes a day off. A decade-old mystery of the missing Parker family is heating up. Most seem to think the Parkers pulled a disappearing act to get out of financial debt. It isn’t before the PTU finds out the reality is far grimmer than that. It seems that Quinn stumbled upon something better left hidden. Now that Rain has stumbled upon it, too, he has to be careful that he doesn’t meet the same fate.

Sometimes it amazes him how far he’s come from strait-laced FBI agent who couldn’t admit—even to himself—that he saw ghosts. He’s done the work, learning to get some measure of control of his paranormal side. And while his relationship with ghosts may not be perfect, it’s evolved into something symbiotic... which is a very good thing. Because in order to protect himself from the living, he might need a little help from the dead.

The first book in this series is the BEST THING EVER. It was originally intended as a stand alone, but due to it's popularity, the author continued the series. Personally, I think things went too far over the top in about book 3. I didn't like the added 'extra' paranormal abilities Rain discovered after being able to communicate with dead people from a young age. I think this is the last book in this series, but it's really to give the fans a true 'ending'. I'm looking forward to reading it because I like the couple and the cases they solve.

What are you waiting on this week?

Death in the Spires
by K.J. Charles

Expected Publication: April 11, 2024

Genre: Historical, Mystery, LGBT+

This my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
The newspapers called us the Seven Wonders. We were a group of friends, that’s all, and then Toby died. Was killed. Murdered.

1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.

Jem begins to track down the people who were there the night Toby died – a close circle of friends once known as the ‘Seven Wonders’ for their charm and talent – only to find them as tormented and broken as himself. All of them knew and loved Toby at Oxford. Could one of them really be his killer?

As Jem grows closer to uncovering what happened that night, his pursuer grows bolder, making increasingly terrifying attempts to silence him for good. Will exposing Toby's killer put to rest the shadows that have darkened Jem’s life for so long? Or will the gruesome truth only put him in more danger?

Some secrets are better left buried…

Per the author, this is NOT a romance. I've previously read some of this author's historical romances, which have some murder mystery elements, so I think I'll still like this even without the romance.

What are you waiting on this week?

Up All Night
(Mount Hope #1)
by Annabeth Albert

Expected Publication: March 28, 2024

Genre: MM, Romance

This my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
What happened to my predictable life?

I had a stable life as a fire captain in Seattle, married to one of my best friends and raising two awesome kids. Now, my kids are grown, and my marriage is toast. I'm solidly past forty and back in my tiny hometown of Mount Hope, Oregon, filling in as a firefighter. My future is one big question mark keeping me up at night.

Also keeping me up at night? The short-order cook at Honey's Hotcake Hut.

Denver might be close to my age, but we're total opposites. The former rock roadie runs from stability, never puts down roots, and lives for the moment. I've never been with a man, but my fresh start has me trying all sorts of new things.

Big decisions loom for both our futures, and our time together grows short. I might have Denver's heart, but his trust is far harder to win. He's the answer to all my question marks, and I need him to believe in us. Can I convince him to give our love a chance?

I'm actually not super excited about the first book in this new series, but I have enjoyed reading this author's previous works, so I thought I'd give this a chance.

What are you waiting on this week?

Save Me
(Forgive Me #3)
by Ariana Nash

Expected Publication: March 22, 2024

Genre: MM, Romance

This my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Vitari Angelini knows selling a cache of Battaglia guns to a drug lord is not what Francis would call legal, but he’ll never find out. Besides, it’s for a good cause: Francis’s happy ever after. Happy endings aren’t for the likes of Vitari, and with his fake death recently exposed, it’s a matter of time before his father sends assassins.

But when the gun deal goes wrong, blowing their cover, all thoughts of a happy ending turn to dust in a desperate dash for the Colombian border. The net is closing, there’s nowhere left to run, Colombia is not the place to hide when you’re the son of the notorious mafia don, and on top of everything… Francis has a secret. A secret that will change their futures. A secret that has Vitari wondering… whose side is Francis on?

Francis hoped Panama would be a fresh start. Again. But Vitari’s not interested in settling down or trying to blend in. Whatever he’s doing that keep him away most nights, it’s definitely illegal. Then there’s the issue of the phone call … Francis should tell Vitari, but a confession like his might end them. Thoughts of a future soon take a back seat when they’re hunted out of Panama and Vitari is taken for ransom. The mafia life they’d tried to run from is not going to let them go.

If ever there was a time to fight for love, it’s now. But to save Vitari, Francis is going to have to be everything he fears, and secretly desires. There are few men more dangerous than one on the road to Hell. Giancarlo and the Battaglia, Sasha and the DeSica… They’re about to wish they’d never met a once-naive English priest. Because Father Francis Scott will go to Hell to save his angel.

I have a confession. I haven't started reading this series yet. Now I'm facing binge reading it. I've just been SO busy reading other books on my tbr, and my tbr keeps growing! I feel like I'll never catch up!

What are you waiting on this week?

Mr Important
(Honeybridge #2)
by Lucy Lennox and May Archer

Expected Publication: March 14, 2024

Genre: MM, Romance

This my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
One New Year’s masquerade. One anonymous hookup. One billionaire-sized mistake.

Once upon a time, someone looked at my scrawny, impetuous eight-year-old self and nicknamed me Mr. Important… and I believed them.

That was my first mistake.

Two decades, a dozen failed careers, and a thousand meaningless hookups later, I’ve made more mistakes than I can count. My parents have decided I’m purely decorative, my brother thinks I need pep talks, and the gorgeous billionaire who hired me as a favor to my dad? He’s forgotten I exist.

So I’m done with mistakes.

Call it my New Year’s resolution. From now on, I’m going after what I want… starting with the mysterious silver fox in the Roman warrior mask who approached me at the charity gala and offered me an anonymous one-night stand.

Unfortunately, when our masks come off I realize mistakes are not done with me.

I read both of these authors seperately, but a whole lot of crazy happens when they write together. I hope this book isn't too far over the top.

What are you waiting on this week?

The Lemon Drop Kid
by Josh Lanyon

Published: February 28, 2024

Genre: MM, Romance

This my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
How The Cookie Crumbled

As sole heir to the Bredahl Cookies and Cakes fortune, Casper led a comfortable, happy-go-lucky life. Some would say, a charmed life.

Sure, there were challenges: relentless pressure to join the family business, and his unrequited feelings for former high school crush Raleigh Jackson. But yeah, a charmed existence, compared to life after being arrested for murder and spending nearly a year in Chippewa Falls County Jail, awaiting trial.

Exoneration and freedom came at too steep a price. To say Casper isn’t in the mood for the holidays, is putting it mildly. In fact, the only thing he wants for Christmas is to see Detective Raleigh Jackson, the man responsible for wrongly putting him behind bars, get his just desserts.

This week I have another surprise release as my WoW. I follow this author on Patreon and she was supposed to be working on something else. But she chose to secretly write this instead, so... I guess when you're an indie writer you can do whatever the hell you want! LOL. Zero anticipation, but I'm still looking forward to reading this!

What are you waiting on this week?

The Truth in My Lies
by L.A. Witt

Published: February 21, 2024

Genre: MM, Romance

This my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
It’s been months since Seth Byrne’s boyfriend ghosted him. Seth is still angry, but he’s worried too, because when Andrew Keller disappeared, he completely disappeared. Disconnected phone. Empty apartment. Abrupt departure from his job. Gone.

Until tonight.

Just as Seth is beginning to move on, Andrew shows up at his door with a story so wild it has to be fake… except he’s armed with a stack of evidence proving he’s telling the truth. And the truth is that everything Seth knew about Andrew is a lie.

Detective Brandon Gaines was supposed to be Andrew Keller for the rest of his life. After being marked for death by the white supremacist cops he tried to bring down, he was put into witness protection. When a chain of events returns him to his old identity, Brandon doesn’t know who he is anymore. Now he’s caught between two identities that don’t fit, and nothing in his world makes sense… except the way he feels about the man he left behind.

Is it even possible to rekindle their relationship when Seth knows nothing about Brandon? He understands why Brandon had to lie, but that doesn’t change the fact that the man in front of him is a stranger. Where do they even start?

But as they struggle to bridge the gap between them, they may have much bigger problems.

Because there are people who DO know who Brandon is.

And they haven’t forgotten why they drove him into witness protection in the first place.

I like this author, but somehow this book release slipped right by me. I don't know how. But I will be reading it soon and hopefully enjoying it.

What are you waiting on this week?