Category: 5 star Rating

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Of Sunlight and Stardust by Riley Hart & Christina Lee

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

When Tanner Rowe purchases a home and barn in rural Michigan, he’s trying to fulfill a promise made to his recently deceased wife, Emma. She’d always been drawn to the place, often remarking that the partially burned and dilapidated barn called to her. Now, Tanner hardly knows where to begin to not only start to renovate the house but to enjoy life again. 

Cole Lachlan is literally living off the land when Tanner runs into him. Homeless and broke, the former convict has been out of prison awhile but he can’t shake his past and is struggling to find work and a place to live. His past follows him wherever he goes, though, so he’s shocked when Tanner offers him work to fix up his barn in exchange for room and board.

Clay finds a journal buried in the floorboards of the barn—a journal that leads them to the story of Tom and Charlie, two young men who lived and loved there in 1948.  Over time, as Tanner and Cole get to know one another better, they read the journal, and like Tom and Charlie, they ultimately fall in love.

A bizarre series of coincidences leads the men to find out more about Tom and Charlie and what really happened to the young men who had plans to leave the area and find a place where they could be free to love. Then, a new problem crops up. Local small-town gossips lead the sheriff to believe Cole is responsible for a theft, and the accusation nearly drives a wedge between the two lovers before the real culprit is found. Between their bizarre dreams of Tom and Charlie and reading the last pages of the journal, Tanner and Cole believe the men may have died in the barn in 1948 and then a shared dream and an out-of-town visitor unexpectedly lead Tanner and Cole to the truth of what happened seventy years before.

Not quite a reincarnation story, but mighty close to it, the underlying theme is love: Tanner’s love for his wife, the love he and Cole begin to feel, and the love for all time that’s carried through seventy years for Tom and Charlie, who are finally put to rest with love and care from those who came to know them.

A beautiful love story, sweet and poignant, emotionally heartwarming and heartbreaking, I very highly recommend this to lovers of MM romance. 

The cover depicts two bare-chested men embracing, one with tattoos, one without. Very attractive and perfect for the MCs in this story.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 269 pages
Published September 18th 2018 by Christina Lee and Riley Hart
ASIN B07HHKN646
Edition Language
English

A Lucy Review: From the Ashes by C.M. Valencourt

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Sometimes stories with a dead character seem manipulative, that it is used to twist your emotions and I hate that so I really went back and forth about offering to review this book.  Now that I’ve experienced it, I’m not sure I will be able to do to justice to how I felt about it.  Two former best friends, Hunter and Derek, who were torn apart by one simple kiss have now had to reunite at their friend Justin’s funeral.  Justin has a request as his final wish.  Derek, Hunter, his girlfriend of three years, Paige, and his closest friend and fellow cancer patient, Jaimie, are to go on what should have been a group road trip and spread his ashes. Hunter especially is really not on board with this idea but he will do it for Justin.

The problem is four years before Derek reacted truly badly to the kiss with Hunter and destroyed the friendship of all three, with Justin the innocent victim.  He didn’t even tell Justin what had happened, just ghosted both him and Hunter.  For his part (because he is also not blameless when it comes to Justin), Hunter couldn’t handle the memories that Justin conjured about the three of them so he also left Justin behind.  Derek was the first person Hunter came out to and his terrible reaction really affected Hunter.  Justin tried for a while to keep them together but finally he backed off, even though these were his best friends.  He was a smart man and he sort of understood what happened but he missed his friends.

Justin has left specific instructions on where he wants the group to go to do this. He left them enough money to do it right and he took into account each person when he made this trip, even planning down to ice-breaker questions for the car.   Jaimie never knew the pre-cancer Justin; Derek and Hunter never knew the sick Justin; Paige knew both but not the way he was with Derek and Hunter.  They all have to fill in the blanks for each other as they follow the instructions in his letters.   Paige has possession of the letters “But we don’t know what we will be doing on the trip.  I didn’t peek inside the envelopes.

The trip is dictated by Justin through the letters he leaves to the group.  START HERE is the first and you start to get to know Justin.  “When I get better, we’ll all go on the trip together, because I’m pretty confident in my ability to make it pretty epic.  We’ll read this letter and take a shot every time I get too sappy.”  So much hope.  He’s chosen these four friends because they had the biggest impact on his life and he wants this trip to be fun. Because you know, the funeral was yesterday and “Of course, it was the funeral with the most tears the parlor has ever seen, and they needed wet floor signs and everything.”  Justin, even while struggling is funny. So off to Cedar Point they go, to throw ashes off the Millennium Force as their first stop. 

Derek, “treating anything even slightly homoerotic like it was an airborne pathogen” sometimes really annoyed me.  I had a hard time liking him at times because of it. The awkwardness between Derek and Hunter as they are jammed in the back seat together is painful.  Justin had asked that Derek, a film director student, document the trip via camera and so at least he has something to distract himself from thinking about the pain he caused. Hunter, surprisingly, forgives him pretty easily for the four years of ghosting and they do what Justin wanted, falling back into friendship.  In Chicago they hit up Boystown to eat at the Chicago Diner and as a vegan Chicagoan, this was a great scene for me.  I love that place! I was so there with Jaimie (the veg) “I’m never settling for a sh**ty side salad or some soggy fries ever again.”   There is a time the trip focuses on Paige and Justin’s final gift to her and I just wanted to hug her for the loss of her first love who loved her so much. They share memories of Justin, get to know each other and experience life for Justin as they drive to the places he wanted them to see.

The road trip is bittersweet and the letters from Justin to each one of them priceless.  I loved Paige and Jaimie and Hunter.  Luckily, I ended up liking Derek, though it took a while.  Hunter, who is going to be a social worker and help people.  Paige, who lost her love and still sees good in life.  Jaimie, who didn’t expect to survive cancer and even get to have a life.  And Derek, who for really the first time is facing something hard.  They all loved the same friend, who wanted them to be friends.   Hunter’s sister, Julia, is another great character.  Their policy of asking if the other just needs to vent or really wants advice was awesome. 

There are so many times that you see the extent of Derek.  He doesn’t like beer yet drinks it because “I feel like I belong if I have a beer.”  He is so clueless sometimes as to how he hurts people, especially Hunter. He’s living with the guilt that he didn’t reach out to Justin or even respond when Justin kept trying.  He wanted to tell them he was sick.  “And it’s my fault he didn’t.’  Derek folded the letter slowly.”  The letter that talks about that had me bawling for this young man with the big heart. “Stuff got really bad yesterday…I almost finally did it.  But then I couldn’t and it had time to settle, and I don’t think I have the courage anymore.  I love you guys, but I don’t think I could bear it if you changed your numbers, or didn’t remember my voice, or worst case scenario, I told you what was going on and it didn’t change things.” 

The friendship between Derek and Hunter returns, with some added bonuses, but Derek is just not able to be honest and as you get to understand his parents, things become clearer.  His shame in the shower was so sad but then his plan for staying with Hunter made me want to slap him. “He was desperate, desperate to put Hunter second…”  Seriously, he doesn’t get it.  But you want him to figure it out.

I was thinking maybe 4 stars for this book but Justin, who has died before the book starts, is worth five stars.   What to even say about this caring, funny, loving man who tried so hard to mend the friendship of Derek and Hunter and even when he couldn’t, forgave them and still loved them. The young man who wrote his own obituary? “Sorry, mom.”   Justin was so positive, so in love with life, adventurous and happy.  “He insisted we go to a club two weeks before he passed.  I had to hold him up, but he wanted to dance.”  He was just heartbreaking and I cried so hard for the loss of him. “Living like nothing hurt and everything was possible.”  If I’m being honest, I cried through the writing of this review as well. 

This is the first book by C.M. Valencourt and they blew me away. The book is sad, yes, but it’s hopeful as well.  I want them all to find happiness and keep the memory of an adventurous young man alive in the way they live their lives.  “Little do they know, I have a fantastic attitude.  I’ve never been discouraged in my whole life.” 

Cover art lovely and perfect.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 196 pages
Expected publication: October 9th 2018
ASINB07HMC46W7

A MelanieM Review: Building Forever (This Time Forever #1) by Kelly Jensen

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Charlie King is doing fine. Sure, he’s a widower raising a teenage daughter who just got her first boyfriend, his book series isn’t writing itself, and he has a crush on his new neighbor — the guy next door. But everything’s just fine.

Simon Lynley is doing better. He moved to Bethlehem to fall out of love and rebuild his career. An affair with his neighbor isn’t part of the plan, but the attraction between them is too hard to ignore.

But when Simon’s ex follows him to Pennsylvania seeking reconciliation, and Charlie’s life starts to feel like a video on repeat, everything comes apart. Charlie worries that he’s failing as a father, and Simon is a distraction he can’t afford. Meanwhile Simon doesn’t know if he could survive being left again, and he hasn’t come all this way to make the same mistakes. But despite their fears, it’s only together that they’ll find the strength to slay old foes and build the forever they’ve been waiting for.

Building Forever (This Time Forever #1) by Kelly Jensen is one of those books to hug close to your heart.  Once finished I wanted to pick it up and start it all over again, lose myself in the richness of the relationships the author has created within.  It’s so easy to fall in love here.  To embrace the people and their lives.

Charlie and his daughter, Liv?  You can feel the truth of their lives, the pain of having lived through watching a beloved mother and wife dying of cancer and then her death, the void her loss has meant and the guilt for Charlie.  And the warmth Charlie exudes, the “realness” of that father/daughter relationship just jumps off the page at you until you almost are a part of their lives as well.

Simon is just a connectable.  Viable, human, hurting.  His chemistry with Charlie and his, unbelievably Charlie’s house (a character in its own right) is so vivid that I kept re-reading passages for the shear joy of them.  I loved these two men together.  Their conversations, the funny dialog.  Especially, Charlie’s conversations and Simon’s reactions to them.  Priceless!

But, of course, it’s so much more than that.  It’s Phil, it’s the dog, Liv, Justin, that house…it’s the whole of this story.  It’s every element that combines to bring a town, a family, and this couple together so memorably alive that your heart feels warm and happy and so not ready to see everyone go.  I wanted to stay, seated in their midst, ready for another story from Charlie, another chapter in their lives, their next step forward.  Their next anything….

Building Forever (This Time Forever #1) by Kelly Jensen is beautifully written with wonderful characters and a heartwarming story you will truly love.  Yes, I absolutely recommend it.

Cover art: Natasha Snow.  I love this artist’s work but that isn’t the house as I pictured it with greystone and slate roof which is a big fail seeing that it’s a huge part of the story.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 1st edition, 337 pages
Expected publication: October 15th 2018 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626498389
Edition LanguageEnglish

Series This Time Forever #1

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Band Sinister by KJ Charles

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Apparently Georgette Heyer’s work was the author’s inspiration for this book. So, first and foremost, I am embarrassed to say I had no idea who Georgette Heyer was. Agatha Christie? Yes. Georgette Heyer? Nope. So, though some reviewers may cite how wonderful the connection is, this one is clueless.

Was this typical KJ Charles? No. Not at all—nary a body to be found. But lots of loving, a band of gregarious rakes who call themselves the Murder, a sweet, innocent, virginal man with a mischief-making sister who breaks her leg and lands among the rakes—this one has so much more. A body simply wasn’t needed.

Sir Philip Rookwood inherited his estate when his older brother died suddenly after running off with the wife of the Frisby family who lived nearby. The problem to most who knew the Rookwoods is that Philip is the black sheep of the family—the illegitimate son who runs with a crowd of young men, many of whom are outrageous in their personality and their dress.  Philip is no doubt thought of as the same since he calls his group “the Murder.”  We find out this is deliberate since his friend Corvin’s name means crow, and between Philip’s “rook” and their friend John Raven, they form a murder of crows.  These three have been together since their boarding school years when all Philip had were his best friends and Corvin’s family who welcomed him as one of their own.

Guy Frisby and his sister, Amanda, have continued to live in the village for years after their mother brought scandal to them simply because their father gambled away their funds before he died. Their mother’s aunt gave them enough money to stay quietly in the country away from society where their soiled reputation won’t affect her daughters’ chances of making a good match.

Amanda reveals to Guy that she’s authored a scandalous book, Darkdown, featuring Sir Peter Falconwood and his dastardly friends. She admits she based it on rumors about Sir Philip and the men with him, and Guy is mortified. Then when Amanda’s horse throws her on Sir Philip’s land and she has to recuperate at his mansion, Guy vows he won’t leave her side so her reputation remains safe, or as safe as it can be given their history. Once there he meets Philip and his friends and realizes just how much trouble he’s in when he can’t take his eyes from the notorious rake.

As the days go on, Guy learns there’s more about Philip than anyone knows.  Aside from being serious about cultivating sugar from beetroot to help his tenant farmers, he’s caring, kind, sweet, and dangerous for Guy’s cravings for men. He’s never acted on his feelings, but his resistance is nil where Philip is concerned and the attraction is mutual. Being thrown together away from the eyes of the rumor mill gives them the opportunity to know each other in carnal ways and the author takes us to a time of innocence and surrender with a light-hearted twist to the romance. One of my favorite scenes is when Guy has his first fellatio experience and realizes the fluid is similar to oysters and he definitely doesn’t like oysters.

While Guy and Philip are occupied, Amanda is still healing from her broken leg and she and her doctor, another of Philip’s friends, are becoming closer. She’s also revealed that she authored Darkdown, the scandalous novel which delights Philip’s friends, especially Corvin, who sees himself in a promiscuous character and spreads the word to his London friends that this is a book that must be read. Things progress nicely until the bubble bursts and Guy and Amanda’s aunt and uncle arrive to lay down the law and break up the events at the mansion. 

A must read, this is KJ Charles’s lightest romance to date and she’s captured the sweet innocence of Guy Frisby perfectly. She’s also built intriguing character sketches of Philip’s other friends so I certainly hope we get to see them in their own books in the future.  Very highly recommended and not to be missed. 

Cover art is charming and works perfectly for this novel.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 224 pages
Expected publication: October 11th 2018 by KJC Books
ISBN139781912688029
Edition LanguageEnglish

In the Spotlight Tour and Giveaway: Guarding His Melody (Enhanced World Standalone) by Victoria Sue

Guarding His Melody (Enhanced World Standalone) by Victoria Sue

Dreamspinner Press
Cover Art: Jay Aheer

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | B&N

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Victoria Sue here today talking about her latest novel      Guarding His Melody, the latest story and standalone novel in the Enhanced Universe.  Welcome!

♦︎

 

A standalone in the Enhanced World 

Deaf since childhood, Sebastian Armitage had a promising musical future until his dreams were shattered when he transformed at twelve years old. In a world where enhanced humans are terrorized and imprisoned, his life shrinks around him even more as he suffers the torment of his father’s experimental research to enable him to hear.

Gray Darling—struggling with the scars left by his experience in Afghanistan—agrees to provide short-term personal protection when anonymous threats escalate into assault on those closest to Seb.

As the lines between protection and attraction blur, Gray and Seb can’t ignore the intense feelings drawing them together. But secrets and betrayals might prove deadly, unless Gray is willing to risk it all. And Seb must find the strength to make his own future and sing his own song

 

Excerpt

 

“You haven’t shown the cops these.” It was a rhetorical question.

“No,” Seb whispered miserably.

“The detectives need to see them,” Gray insisted. “There’s all sorts of tests they can run, not least DNA if someone was dumb enough to lick the envelopes.”

Seb looked at him incredulously.

“You’d be surprised how stupid people can be,” Gray said. He looked in the file. “Envelopes?”

“I only have the one from today.” He nodded to the trash, and Gray fished it out using the corner of his shirt again, so he didn’t touch it.

“Does anyone know?”

Seb hesitated almost imperceptibly and with a flash of insight, Gray knew. “Arron?” Seb lowered his head, which was as good as an admission.

Gray sat down heavily on the bed, and Seb sank down next to him. Gray tapped Seb’s shoulder, and Seb raised his head, misery stark in his eyes. “How long have they been arriving?”

“Five months,” Seb whispered. “There were two more that I gave to Arron.”

Gray swore quietly to himself. “What did Arron do?”

“He was going to talk to a detective friend of his but said if I stopped the lessons and just lay low for a while, things might smooth over. He said there’s a team of enhanced in Florida—SWAT or something”—Seb frowned—“who are making a lot of waves, and people are getting real nervous.”

“FBI,” Gray corrected.

“Yeah, they saved a judge. Arron says it means things are changing, but that it also paints a target on my back.”

Gray’s heart sank. Not for what had happened to Arron, because as far as he was concerned, the man had been a fool, but Gray didn’t like coincidences even if on the face of things the suicide looked genuine. He didn’t like that Arron seemed to be trying to keep things quiet. Or had he? Had the man told someone else who couldn’t be trusted, and it had gotten him killed? Maybe Gray was misjudging him.

Gray also didn’t like blaming this on some supposed hate group. Not that they weren’t powerful, because he should know and had the scars to prove it. He just wasn’t convinced someone would go to all that trouble to pick on some kid who lived like a recluse because of a scar on his face. He thought it was something much simpler. And in particular, fourteen million of them. He picked up his phone to call Rawlings. It might be an idea to watch both Mrs. Pickering and Seb’s dad while they found out what the actual fuck was going on.

The words to ask Seb why he hadn’t told him were on his lips, and Gray had to forcefully swallow them to stop them escaping. Seb had known him less than one week. He’d known Arron for nearly three years, and Arron had been killed. Seb was blaming himself. He was mired in secrets and enough problems that would drive most people nuts. He was also doing his best to protect himself and didn’t know who to trust. Gray didn’t blame Seb for not telling him.

About the Author

Victoria Sue

Victoria Sue fell in love with love stories as a child when she would hide away with her mom’s library books and dream of the dashing hero coming to rescue her from math homework. She never mastered math but never stopped loving her heroes and decided to give them the happy ever afters they fight so hard for.
She loves reading and writing about gorgeous boys loving each other the best—and creating a family for them to adore. Thrilled to hear from her readers, she can be found most days lurking on Facebook where she doesn’t need factor 1000 sun-cream to hide her freckles.

www.victoriasue.com

@vickysuewrites

https://www.facebook.com/victoriasueauthor

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1182647028418709/

 

Giveaway

 

To enter to win, use this link below.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7fc3cf041/?

Release Blitz Tour and Giveaway – Ryker (Owatonna U Hockey #1) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

 

Buy Links: Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2IdxlmP

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2MT11q9

 
Length: 50,700 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
 
Blurb
 

Ryker is hockey royalty, Jacob is a poor country boy. Can two vastly different people find common ground and become the men they want to be?


Ryker comes from a long line of championship-winning hockey players. Playing college hockey to develop his game is his only focus, and nothing will stand in the way of him working to become the best player. He has no room for relationships, people that point out his flaws, or anyone who calls him on his dreams. He certainly has no place for love, and meeting Jacob is nothing but a useful distraction on the side. After all trying to get his Owatonna Eagles teammate into bed is less work and more play. When tragedy rocks his family, his charmed life crumbles, and the only person he can turn to is the same one who claims to hate him.


Jacob Benson has only known hard work and stifling conservative values his whole life. Born and raised in the small rural community of Eden Crossing, Minnesota, he’s the only son of a hard-working but struggling dairy farming family. Jacob is using his skills in hockey to finance his way to an agricultural science degree. These four years at Owatonna U. will probably be the only time he has to enjoy life, gain acceptance about his sexuality, and live openly before his inevitable return to the farm. Running into a pretty rich boy like Ryker Madsen is putting a damper on his enjoyment of life away from home. Ryker’s flip, conceited, carefree attitude grates on Jacob’s every nerve. So why, if Ryker is everything he dislikes, does he want nothing more than to explore the sinful dreams that his annoying teammate stars in every night?

RJ’s goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

RJ is the author of the over one hundred novels and discovered romance in books at a very young age. She realized that if there wasn’t romance on the page, she could create it in her head, and is a lifelong writer.

She lives and works out of her home in the beautiful English countryside, spends her spare time reading, watching films, and enjoying time with her family.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit and has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.

She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the following links below:

Email RJ (rj@rjscott.co.uk)

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, Dr. Who, Torchwood, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, two Jersey steers and a flock of assorted domestic fowl.


When not writing lusty tales, she can be found enjoying her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in hand.

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A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Counterpoint (Twisted Wishes #2) by Anna Zabo

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

I honestly didn’t think it would be possible for a sequel to be better than the first story in this series, Syncopation, but I was wrong—very, very wrong. This book exceeded all my expectations and effortlessly moved to my top five of 2018.

Adrian Doran heads out to dinner one night in his Brooklyn neighborhood and happens to be seated next to a stunning, nerdy looking guy who returns his casual perusal with one of his own. Adrian is a computer programmer for a NYC bank by day and a Dom by preference in the rest of his life. When the guy accepts Adrian’s offer of a bite of his lemon meringue pie and then proceeds to moan and make subtle orgasmic facial expressions, Adrian knows what, and who, his next goal is going to be.

Dominic Bradley is a quiet, unassuming bookworm, who enjoys reading most genres of literature, visiting museums, playing his guitar, and being an all-around geek. With Adrian he discovers his submissive side, but he suffers from social anxiety, especially when he needs to take the stage with his bandmates in Twisted Wishes, a well-known rock band. To do so, he dons a new personality, Domino Grinder, a rock god who wears leather, has an upper body covered in tattoos, wears makeup, and throws the finger at the world. The lead guitarist takes bull from no man. But Dominic and Domino can’t coexist and as Dominic succumbs to the allure of a new relationship with Adrian, he’s going to have to hide Domino or risk losing the man.

As their relationship grows and Dominic discovers rope play really cements his submissive role with Adrian, he despairs of ever being able to let Adrian in on who he really is. He desperately wants to introduce him to his bandmates, and he wants to find a way to merge his two sides but backs away from any confrontation until it’s almost too late. When Adrian spots Dominic’s tattoos on the arm of the lead guitarist for Twisted Wishes on a magazine cover, he loses hope for a future with the man he loves. Can these two continue their D/s relationship and continue to grow their love if one can’t trust the other completely?

I love this author’s writing style and creativity. Caught up and totally immersed in the relationship between Adrian and Dom, I rooted for both men equally and was captivated by each page-turn as their lives took new twists and turns. Adrian was being undermined at work in a job that provided no satisfaction. Dominic was playing as Domino all day while the band practiced or did promo events, yet he couldn’t let in the one man who’d make his life even better so switched to Dominic the moment Domino was no longer needed. The dynamic of the two men in both their private D/s lives and their “out in the world” lives was comfortable, strong, balanced, in sync, and loving. But their secrets nearly broke them apart.

I accidentally discovered this author last year, but I am 100% on board as a fan. I have yet to read something that isn’t top quality and I highly recommend this story. In fact, I highly recommend this series to fans who enjoy books featuring musicians, domination/submission, great plots, interesting deep characterizations, and MM romance. 

The gorgeous, attractive cover features a handsome, bearded, dark-haired guitarist—complete with the tattoo described in the story, set against a bright turquoise background, the bottom border of which shows fans at a rock concert. It’s perfect for this story.

Sales Links:  Carina Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 1st edition
Expected publication: September 24th 2018 by Carina Press
ISBN139781488089374
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series Twisted Wishes #2

Syncopation

Counterpoint