Category: Book Reviews

September is Here and This Week At Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

September and Fall

blowing leaves clip rt

This Week At Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

 Leaves have started to fall, yet I’m still working on our Best Books of Summer 2015 Part II.  While I do, here is our schedule this week.

Sunday, August 30:

  • September is Upon Us and This Week At Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Monday, August 31:

  • What Happens In Vegas Charity Blog Hop
  • Its Love and Texas Heat with Patricia Logan’s Buttermilk Ranch
  • A Stella Review: Free Ride by J.L. Merrow
  • A Jeri Review: Unsaid (The Manhattanites Book 3) by Avery Aster
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady: A Sense of Place by NR Walker

Tuesday, September 1:

  • Cover Reveal for JK Hogan’s ‘Unbreak Broken’
  • Riptide Book Tour : Fall and Rising by Sunny Moraine (contest)
  • Book Spotlight: Viki Lyn ‘Lover’s Trill’ (excerpt and contest)
  • A Mika Review: Bent Arrow by Posy Roberts (double  dipping review)
  • A Stella Review: Bent Arrow by Posy Roberts

Wednesday, September 2:

  • Coffee Sip and Book Break: Thianna Durston’s ‘Discovery’ {excerpt and giveaway}
  •  Love Heats Up with TC Blue’s ‘Sexual Frankenstein’ (contest)
  • A Stella Review: Red Hot – Coffin Nails MC California by KA Merikan
  • A MelanieM Review: Taxes and Tardis by N. R. Walker
  • A Paul B Review: Craig (Gillhan Pack #3) by Catherine Lievens

Thursday, September 3  Happy Birthday, RJ Scott!:

  • Throwback Thursday:  A Barb  the Zany Old Lady Review: The Summer House by R.J. Scott
  • Posy Roberts ‘Bent Arrow’ book blast  and contest
  • A Mika Review: Trust by Sarah Masters
  • A MelanieM Review: Put A Ring On It by K.A. Mitchell
  • A BJ Review: TBA

Friday, September 4:

  • A Closer Look at A SHOOTING STAR by Joe Cosentino (guest post and contest)
  • Spotlight:  L.A. Witt’s Running with Scissors tour and contest
  • Book Blast and Giveaway: Like A Lover by Jay Northcote
  • A Stella Review: Speedy Rewards by Jeff Erno
  • A MelanieM Review: No Place Left to Run by Zarah Detand

Saturday, September 5:

  • STRW Best Books of Summer 2015 Part II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Paul B Review: Zach (Gillham Pack, #2) by Catherine Lievens

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Zach coverZach desperately wants to be with his mate Kameron.  However, his sister’s husband is forcing him to stay away or else Ella will be hurt.  Will Zach be able to help not only his sister but also himself?

Kameron has been Alpha of the Gillham pack for six months.  He has felt a pull towards fellow pack member Zach for well over a year.  The only problem is that Zach does not smell like his mate.  Disappointed that the tell tale sign is not there, Kameron still spends all the time he can with Zach.  When he decides three months into his Alpha tenure that he wants Zack as his mate despite not being fated mates, Zach disappears on him.  Hurt by his disappearance, Kameron tries to move on by leading his pack.

Having known Kameron was his mate for seven years has been hard on Zach.  He first realized that Kam was his mate when he was fourteen, too young to do anything about it.  However, in order to protect Zach from their previous Alpha Erskine, his parents obtain some pills that mask Zach scent to Kam.  After Kam has defeated Erskine in an alpha challenge, Zach’s hopes of getting together with Kam are dashed when his brother in law Stan threatens both his sister Ella and Kam if he doesn’t come live with them to take over the household chores from a pregnant Ella.

However, that does not prevent Zach from sneaking over to the alpha house to catch glimpses of his should be mate.

After Kam and his friends rescue both Zach and Ella from Stan’s house, Zach explains the whole situation to Kam.  Kam insists that the injured Zach recovers in the alpha suite.  As the two renew their friendship and move toward a relationship, Zach decides his role is to be alpha mate.  However, one of the former inner circle members who had been abusing pack members slips apprehension.  Tom goes to the alpha house to look through the office files when Zach surprises him.  Tom subdues the injured man and takes off.  When Kam returns from interrogating the prisoners they do have finds Zach gone with no sign of a struggle, he isn’t sure what happened.  Was Zach kidnapped or did he run away again like the last time?

This is the follow up to Xavier in the Gilliam Pack series.  This is a good follow up to the story that was hinted at in the last book.  The reasons for Zach being so elusive in the first book are fully explained here.  The major theme of the book is misplaced distrust of one’s mate.  Zach does not trust Kam to help him out of his situation.  Kam does not trust Zach not to run away again, which caused a delay in his rescue.  The scene stealer in this book is the elephant screw shifter that was rescued from the labs.

The cover art by Latrisha Waters shows a well-built torso with a wolf looking out in front of him.  It’s a fairly standard cover for a shifter story.

Sales Links:  eXtasy Books | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book details

Ebook, 116 pages
Edition:  English
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0387-4
Published:  July 15, 2015 by Extasy Books

Series:  Gillham Pack

  • Xavier (Gillham Pack #1)
  • Zach (Gillham Pack #2)
  • Craig (Gillham Pak #3)

Coffee Break Highlight: Ann Gallagher on Lead Me Not and Future Projects for Her and Her Alter Egos! (guest post and giveaway)

Lead Me Not cover

Lead Me Not by Ann Gallagher
Publisher: Riptide Publishing

Cover Artist:  L. C. Chase
Sales Link:  Riptide Publishing

LeadMeNot_TourBanner

 

Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/Ann Gallagher blog tour for Lead Me Not!

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (including books written as L.A. Witt and Lauren Gallagher, excluding Lead Me Not) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on August 29. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Don’t forget to leave your email so we can contact you if you win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Prizes provided by Riptide Publishing and the author.

***

So what’s next for Ann Gallagher & Co?

Lead Me Not prompted me to add a new pen name to my ever-growing roster. (I swear, I’m stopping at five. I do not need more. Please, please, no more…) So now that Ann Gallagher has one book out there, what’s next?

I honestly don’t know much more I’ll be writing in the Christian/inspirational genre (I simply haven’t come up with any additional ideas, though that’s not to say they won’t happen down the line), but I also don’t want Ann to be a one trick pony. So, chances are, she will be required to wear multiple hats just like my other names. This name will most likely be LGBTQ, focusing on sweet romances (not limited to Christian romances) and Young Adult.

And yes, I am expanding into YA next year. I have two YA romances in the works, and a third YA book that likely won’t be a romance.

Speaking of my herd of pen names, here’s what’s next for everyone else:

L.A. Witt is the busiest of the bunch. What He Left Behind (an erotic menage from Samhain Publishing) just came out, and Running With Scissors (a rock star romance) will be out on August 31st. Also in the offing, Rain Shadow (a new Bluewater Bay book) this fall, followed by If The Seas Catch Fire (erotic suspense with Mafia shenanigans) in November, and a kinky office romance called Not Safe For Work in December. And there are several co-written projects which will be announced as they’re completed.

Lauren Gallagher has a hetero release in October called The Virgin Cowboy Billionaire’s Secret Baby (yes, really), and a bisexual ménage called The Best Laid Plans, which is due out in February. Also in the works is Stuck Landing, the first lesbian book in the Bluewater Bay series.

Diana Fyre is working on two horror novels, which will be announced sometime in 2016.
And finally, Lori A. Witt is working on Mythos, a non-romance science fiction novel; a dystopian spec-fic story; and a sequel to The Tide of War.

There are a few other projects going on that will be announced in 2016, so stay tuned!

***

Lead Me Not cover

Blurb

Isaac Morris has devoted his life to preaching against the sin of homosexuality. But when his sister proposes a documentary to demonstrate once and for all that it’s a choice—with Isaac choosing to be gay as proof—he balks. Until he learns his nephew is headed down that perverted path. Isaac will do anything to convince the teenager he can choose to be straight . . . including his sister’s film.

When Isaac’s first foray into the gay lifestyle ends with a homophobic beating, he’s saved and cared for by Colton Roberts, a gentle, compassionate bartender with a cross around his neck. Colton challenges every one of Isaac’s deeply held beliefs about gay men. He was kicked out by homophobic parents, saved from the streets by a kind pastor, and is now a devout Christian. Colton’s sexuality has cost him dearly, but it also brought him to God.

As the two grow closer, everything Isaac knows about homosexuality, his faith, and himself is called into question. And if he’s been wrong all along, what does that mean for his ministry, his soul, his struggling nephew—and the man he never meant to love?

Lead Me Not is available August 24th from Riptide Publishing.

   About the Author and her many Identities!

Ann Gallagher is the slightly more civilized alter ego of  L.A. Witt,   Lauren Gallagher, and Lori A. Witt. So she tells herself, anyway. When she isn’t wreaking havoc on Spain with her husband and trusty two-headed Brahma bull, she writes romances just like her wilder counterparts, but without all the heat. She is also far too mature to get involved in the petty battle between L.A. and Lauren, but she’s seriously going to get even with Lori for a certain incident that shall not be discussed publicly.

Connect with Ann:

  • Website:  \n _blankhttp://loriawitt.com
  • Author Blog:   \n _blankhttp://gallagherwitt.blogspot.com
  • 
Personal Blog:   \n _blankhttp://navywifeadventures.blogspot.
  • Twitter: @GallagherWitt
  • Facebook:  http://facebook.com//L-A-Witt-MM-Fiction

[Our Barb the Zany Old Lady 5 Star Review follows]

A MelanieM Review: The Shepherd and the Solicitor by Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

When a storm is brewing, taking shelter could be the most dangerous move of all.

The Shepherd and the Solicitor coverOne careless, public sign of affection cost Daniel Pierce’s lover his life at the hands of a hate-filled mob. Grief-stricken, Daniel retreated from society to a sheep farm in the wilds of the north. Years later, Gregory Tobin erupts into his solitary life.

Sent to confirm the existence—or the death—of the Pierce family’s lost heir, Tobin isn’t sure he’s found the right man. The gruff, shaggy hermit calling himself Jacob Bennet bears little resemblance to photographs of the younger Pierce. Tobin needs more time to study his quarry.

With lambing season in full swing, Daniel grudgingly admits he could use an extra hand. Through a long, exhausting night, they parry back and forth as Tobin probes closer and closer to the truth. And something beyond casual attraction simmers between them.

They come together in a crash of desire, but ultimately Daniel must overcome the terrors of the past to reconcile the man he was with the man he’s becoming—a man capable of loving again.

In The Shepherd and the Solicitor, authors Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee effortlessly bring 1883 Yorkshire to life, allowing  their readers to sink into many levels of society and culture of that age through their novel and characters.  A lover of historic fiction, especially historic romance, that blurb attracted me with its wounded withdrawn main character and the man sent to find him and return him to society.  The authors delivered not only on the promise of their synopsis but gave me a story that let me feel a part of a small community struggling for survival on the edge of a moor. Do I love this story?  Oh, yes I do!

Let’s start with the characterizations first.  Its the death of Daniel Pierce’s lover at a mob that the impetus for his  flight.  Wrong place, wrong time, one tiny gesture that gets noticed by the wrong person and a mob is ignited.  Daniel barely escapes with his life, his lover perishes as a police officer watches.  Emotionally destroyed, Daniel abandons everyone and everything he associates with his lover’s death and disappears.

When the story picks up the Board of Directors of the Pierce family firm is looking for the lost heir,  He must be found so the company’s majority shares Daniel owns can be either sold or handled for control of the firm.  The job is given to a young solicitor Gregory Tobin, a middle man in his firm,  He considers this job tedious but intends to carry it out responsibility and throughly.  And that and a slight clue has lead him to the wilds of Yorkshire, muddy roads and an almost inhabitable inn.

With each character (primary and otherwise), Devon and Dee set up their portraits complete with the correct set of clothing and footwear appropriate to their stations and lifestyles, their speech patterns matches their professions (lost and current), and even the books left scattered around Daniel/Jacob’s cottage is perfect for the times and education of the man in question.  The authors don’t hit us over the head with their research but stash it away in the narrative in bits and pieces so we notice it as we would looking around someone’s room or house.  It feels natural and believable.

A element I delighted in was the flocks of sheep and sheep dogs being raised by Jacob.  The reader along with Gregory get quite the introduction into the rough life of a shepherd in 1883, from the exhaustion, pain, and joys of lambing to the bare minimum existence of Daniel/Jacob’s cottage. Through lively, vivid descriptions Gregory’s initiation into that life becomes ours as well, those passages making us laugh and often sniffle.  When Gregory names a triplet of lambs after three solicitors in his office, his reasons and descriptions will sending you giggling.  And when a ewe rejects her lamb and they desperately search for a solution, its feels raw, real and urgent .

That brings us to the element of romance.  If you like your romance to be quick, hot and heavy, then this is probably not the romance story for you.  Devon and Dee have made Daniel’s pain and trauma over the death of his lover palpable.  That event caused him to totally withdraw from the world as he knew it, becoming someone totally different overtime.  And time is what it takes for Gregory to start to break through those barriers and keep within the social restraints of the 1800’s respectability. Theirs is a slow build towards friendship and a romantic relationship.  Its a tight balancing act, one that Daniel has lost once and is not sure he is brave enough to reach for again.  I was deeply engaged in this romance and loved every slow step they took towards each other.

I even loved the ending, maybe the denouement was stretching it a little but by that time, I didn’t care whether it was as realistic as the rest of the story.  I loved it and I loved the solution that the authors came up with for Daniel and Gregory, that was close to perfection.

I highly recommend this story. Even if you normally don’t read historic romance, you will love this couple and their story of love and devotion.  Its heartwarming and beautifully written.  I may not ever want to have lived in the 1800’s but through the writing of Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee, I  feel as though I have visited there for a while.  And had a wonderful time.

 

Cover artist Lea Kaye Suttle cover is lovely, a little old fashioned.  I do wish there were some sheep on it.

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 161 pages
Expected publication: September 29th 2015 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
ASIN B00YX4QH1A
edition language English

 

A Stella Review: Confessions Of a Wild Heart by Kade Boehme

Rating: 3. 75 stars out of 5

Confessions of a Wild HeartUS Army PFC Jase Emery, on leave in Germany, sees Ase Ramirez for the first time with a camera to his face. Ase’s wild child ways provide a welcome distraction for Jase. But their weekend of fun ends abruptly when Ase’s conservative family catches them. Through email, Ase and Jase are able to keep the link open. But that too comes to an end.

Jase was never able to live up to his parent’s expectations like his brother was. He didn’t stay and work the family ranch, or marry. He saw the world. His return from serving in the Army changed nothing, he wanted to be free to live his own life. But the death of his father and his mother’s failing health force him to come home, hide his bisexuality, and live a life in the closet as a local Sheriff Deputy so he can take care of his family. This was to be his life… Until Ase returns.

After his family caught Ase and Jase together, Ase worked hard at getting the heat off himself. His occasional thoughts of Jase and their amazing weekend dwindle as life and family take the forefront and fear drives Ase to make huge mistakes.

When Ase and Jase come face to face again, it isn’t easy. Insecurities, and a hurt that have only grown with time make it hard to see the future.Can their friendship blossom into something more? With Ase’s wild side reappearing from the shadows and major trust issues, can he and Jase, with huge obstacles of his own, learn to forgive, move on, and find a peace they both so desperately want… together?

I read Chasing the Rainbow https://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords.com/2015/06/16/a-stella-review-chasing-the-rainbow-by-kade-boehme/ on May and last week this new one and I realized I’m struggling a little with Kade’s work lately. Confessions of a Wild Heart was a good book, definitely better than the  last one, but I’m used to get something different from the author.

I’m not talking about details in the writing’s style or the plot or the characters, on the contrary. When you are going to read the lovely and hot story between Jace and Ase, you will meet great characters (both main and secondary), well defined, real and “defective” just like us. The development of the love story was real too and it gave a huge strength to the book, putting it on a higher level. The writing was good, done in a way to make the reading flow easily. Everything was right.

What did I miss? I have to admit, at the end of the book, I wasn’t able to rate it and I had to think about it for some days. It was good but it lacked that something I later realized is a mix of the emotional part and the chemistry among MCs. Still Confessions of a Wild Heart is full of feelings, not all of them positive, but they were there with hot and sexy scenes. I read the feelings, but I couldn’t feel them and the chemistry, almost if there was screen between me and the story.

That’s why I’m not giving it the full 4 stars (that to me means I loved the book) to a book that probably would have deserved a little more than that but I expect from more Kade.

Cover art by Natasha Snow caught my attention before I read the blurb. It’s Natasha’s and it’s really amazing. And the model is hard to ignore.

Sales Links:  Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

Published July 20th 2015 by Amazon Digital Services, Inc
Kindle Edition, 338 pages
ASIN B0127TCGXK
Edition Language English

A Paul B Review: Broken Circle (Sirius Wolves #2) by Victoria Sue

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Broken Circle coverSeven months have passed since we last checked in on Aden, Blaze, Connor and Darric.  The Orion’s Circle is expecting their first child.  The second book of the Sirius Wolves series opens up with the Aden in the process of delivering their bundle of joy.  When the child comes, Blaze is surprised that they have a daughter instead of the son that he thought they would have.

Shortly after Beth is born, a new terrorist group is trying to destroy the joint wolf human military training that Blaze and Senator Mason have been trying to set up.  Their first attempt, kill the Joint Chiefs in Washington DC, fails.  Their second attempt takes place in Denver.  This time the group succeeds.  The group Winter Circle claims responsibility.  Blaze knows that the terrorist group is named in such a way to implicate the werewolves.  He hopes that it is just a coincidence that a human group would choose that name.

Meanwhile, Doctor Madden is back in town.  He has gotten information that the Orion’s Circle has had a child and wants to try to duplicate the results in humans.  He first kidnaps Blaze thinking he is the reason for the child.  When Blaze is unwilling to divulge any information, Madden then sets about kidnapping Aden to give Blaze incentive to talk.  When Connor and Darric arrive to rescue their mates, all hell breaks out.

I enjoy this story.  Blaze is complex character.  He is the Supreme Alpha but cannot seem to do anything right when it comes to Aden.  What Blaze sees as protecting his mates, Aden sees it as overbearing sometimes.  Blaze’s idea about hiring a couple of nannies is a prime example.  Darric and Connor are there to try to explain to their mates what the others motivations are.  With the plot twists that occur in this book, it will be interesting to see how this relationship moves forward in following books.

The cover design by 3 Rusted Spoons shows the Omega Aden shirtless in jeans standing in front of a starry sky.  It is a decent cover for the story.

Sales Links:  Dark Hollow Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details

Ebook, 127 pages
Edition:  English
ISBN:  978-1-942176-92-3
Published:  July 29, 2015 by Dark Hollows Press

Series:  Sirius Wolves

  • Orion’s Circle (Sirius Wolves #1)
  • Broken Circle (Sirius Wolves #2)