Category: Book Reviews

On Tour with Susan Mac Nicol and Love You Senseless (Men of London: Book 1) Release (contest)

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Susan MacNicol is on tour today with her release, Love You Senseless (Men of London:Book 1).  Check out the blurb and excerpt and don’t forget to enter the contest provided below!

 

Book Name: Love You Senseless (Men of London: Book 1)
Author Name: Susan Mac Nicol

Author Bio:

Susan Mac Nicol was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. At the age of eight, her family moved to Johannesburg, South Africa where she stayed for nearly thirty years before arriving back in the UK in December 2000. Currently, She lives in the rural village of Bocking, in Essex, with her family
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Sue is a PAN (Published Author’s Network) member of Romance Writers of America and a member of the Romantic Novelists Association in the UK. Also, she is a member of a rather unique writing group, called the Talliston Writer’s Circle, which in itself has a story all of its own to tell. She has written nine novels, two novellas and a screenplay since February 2012 and clearly believes in keeping herself busy. She has found herself wanting to stay in the sub-genre that is M/M Romance so more can definitely be expected.

Her plan is to keep writing as long as her muse sits upon her shoulder. Her dream is to make enough money to give up the day job and get that big old house in the English countryside overlooking a river, where she can write all day and continue to indulge her passion for telling stories.

Author Contact:

MoL_Love You Senseless_coverPublisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Cover Artist: Boroughs Publishing Group

Sales Links: www.BoroughsPublishingGroup.com  Smashwords   All Romance eBook

         Amazon UK    Amazon US

A Taste of Forever Blurb:

London’s saucy up-and-coming chef, Eddie Tripp has just the right recipe to drive tragedy from the mind of Gideon Kent—and leave him senseless with desire.

From Soho to Norwich, there’s no escaping love.

An award-winning chef with his own restaurant and an inexhaustible passion, Gideon Kent once had everything. Then came tragedy. It stole more than Gideon’s home. He hasn’t cooked since.

Until Eddie Tripp. Fun-loving and vivacious, the Norfolk redhead’s a real up-and-comer in Gideon’s kitchen—and other places. Slim where Gideon’s broad, easy-going where Gideon is growly, he and Gideon seem polar opposites, and yet Eddie conjures flavors that would tempt anyone with a taste for perfection. The sauce of love is already simmering, and this pair is about to dine on the most delicious dish they’ve ever prepared. Because Eddie’s been Gideon’s missing ingredient all along.

Categories: Contemporary, Erotica, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt:

Eddie kissed back, wanting nothing more than this moment, this man in his body and his lips on his. Somewhere a bell rang and for a minute Eddie thought it might be the sound of his own passion translated to tinkling sleigh bells and fireworks like in the cartoon movies when two people kissed. He smiled at that thought then as the bell got more insistent and irritating, he turned to Gideon only to find he was no longer there. Eddie scowled and reached across to where the annoying bell sound was….

He woke from his dream upright, sweating, sticky with come and tangled in musty smelling sheets that had seen their fair share of jack off action lately and needed washing. His hand rested on his mobile phone as it trilled incessantly with his Big Ben alarm. He blinked owlishly for a minute, wondering where he was, then as the dream faded, he fell back in a loose heap with a sense of loss.

Words: 85,000

BadgeTour Dates: October 13th, 2014

Tour Stops:

Parker Williams, Love Bytes, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, , Cate Ashwood, BFD Book Blog, My Fiction Nook, Velvet Panic, Wicked Faeries Reviews, 3 Chicks After Dark, Multitasking Mommas, MM Good Book Reviews, Fallen Angel Reviews, Michael Mandrake, It’s Raining Men

Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: A copy of Double Alchemy and Double Alchemy: Climax. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the Rafflecopter link provided below to enter and for all additional contest details.

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An Aurora YA Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

The Ocean at the End of the Lane cover The Ocean at the End of the Lane starts with a middle aged man heading back to his childhood home for a funeral, but it doesn’t stay there for long. Rather it goes back to when he was a child and the adventures he had with the mysterious Hempstock family down the road when he got a new babysitter who was more than she appeared to be.

This book was by far one of the best I had ever read. I went into it with very high hopes simply because I love most of Mr. Gaiman’s works. It exceeded every single one of my hopes for it. There was beautiful imagery, but without slowing down the pace or being too out of character for the point of view it was told from. He was able to tell the story while still adding in imagery that made it more interesting, without going on a tangent about what things looked like.

The story was interesting and the characters grabbed my attention and kept me caring what happened to them while still being realistic. The main character is a very young boy throughout the majority of the narrative and is kept accurate to being so young. There are times when he is exceptionally brave or clever, but never in a way that it is unbelievable for a boy of his age to be. For example, when the boy escapes his house and his evil babysitter, he’s smart enough to get away, but almost as soon as he gets to his neighbors’ house, he breaks down, which seemed very believable to me considering his age, without making him seem entirely helpless.

If I had to pick one thing I wasn’t overly fond of in this book, it would be that I didn’t care as much about the Hempstocks as I could have. However, as the story progressed, I began to like them more and more because they did seem to be almost arrogant, but then as the book went on it was made clear that they didn’t just talk, they could actually handle situations.

Cover Artist: I couldn’t find the actual cover artist.

At first glance, the cover of The Ocean at the End of the Lane is certainly interesting, and eye-catching. As I went on reading the book I did start to wonder where the cover fit into the story. By the end, I understood what it was and it became better for that understanding. Overall, the cover is fairly simplistic, but it does its job

Sales Links:  Amazon   The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Book Details:

ebook, 143 pages
Published June 18th 2013 by William Morrow; 1st edition (first published January 1st 2013)
original titleThe Ocean at the End of the Lane
edition languageEnglish
charactersLettie Hempstock, Ursula Monkton, The Nameless Boy
settingSussex, England (United Kingdom)

literary awardsNebula Award Nominee for Best Novel (2013), Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2014), Goodreads Choice for Best Fantasy (2013), Specsavers Book of the Year (2013), Paris Review Best of the Best (2013)

A MelanieM Review: The Broken Road Cafe (The Broken Road Cafe #1) by T.A. Webb

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Broken Road Cafe coverFor years Daniel O’Leary worked hard to have it all.  Determination and a ruthless focus on his goals saw him  through college, law school and a job at a prestigious law firm where he made partner in a meteoric rise to the top.  All before the age of 35.  Along the way he remained close to his college best friend and found  love with an artist.  Now 10 years later, Dan has been feeling unsettled, as if having everything he wanted was not enough.    The fates heard him and in one day time, Dan lost everything.  His lover, his best friend and his job and partnership at the law  firm.

Vowing to use the shocking events of the day as a springboard to something new, Dan heads out to a small town near Stone Mountain, Georgia.  From the moment Dan steps into the town of Blue Ridge, he feels free and at home.  A new life beckons with the purchase of a local cafe,  which Dan renamed The Broken Road Cafe.  Blue Ridge’s  Sheriff, Nick Oliver,  is gorgeous, irritating, and also deep in the closet.  Surprisingly (or not) Dan finds himself falling for the Sheriff, the town’s people and life lived at a slower pace.

But people and problems have a way of refusing to be left behind as Dan learns to his dismay.  Dan wants a new start, a new life and perhaps even a new love. Now If only Dan’s his past will let him go forward into his future.

How do I love this story?  Let me count the ways!  The  outstanding characters, the intimate location and settings, the humor and of course, the wonderful plot…all courtesy of T.A. Webb, a masterful storyteller at it again with this latest release and new series.  T.A. Webb is an automatic must read, must have author for me.  And this new story, The Broken Road Cafe is a shining example why he should be yours as well.

Starting with one of the main characters,  Daniel O’Leary, Webb pulls us into the mind and life of this intelligent, moral, if somewhat ruthless lawyer, a man who worked relentlessly through the years to obtain his law degree,  earn a stellar reputation as a lawyer, and partnership  by the age of 35 at one of the most prestigious law firms in Atlanta.  His support consists of his amazing assistant, Charity, George his best friend of 20 years and George’s partner and not much else.  Oh, and his live in love too.  The author brings Dan’s emotional and mental state alive on the pages as Dan muses over his recent irritability with his job and life.  Still, Dan is going through his normal routine, when a moment of spontaneity and surprises start the avalanche that will destroy Dan’s life in just one day.   Webb makes us feel every shocking moment of every minute of the events that break up Dan’s life and perceptions of the people around him.  It’s raw, and painful, and sobering.

Then as Dan begins to gather the courage to move away and go forward, we are next to him in the passenger seat of his beloved Mustang as he heads out of Atlanta and finds himself in the small town of Blue Ridge, a place that will change his life as it works itself into our hearts.  T.A. Webb knows small town life and its all here, the pluses and the minuses, the intimacy for good and bad.  And its exactly what Dan needs.  What a believable journey this becomes for Dan and the reader.  It’s full of humor, self depreciation, wise cracks and the caring the pops up when you least expect it but need it the most.  I heart this town and its people.  And it rings with an authenticity that anyone who lives in or is familiar with small towns, especially those in the South will recognize.

Another huge piece of this heartwarming, complex story is town Sheriff Nick Oliver.  Nick is the town’s “hero”, that one person who is the town’s moral compass and go to guy no matter what the crisis.He is also just happens to be hiding the fact that he’s gay.  From everyone, including his huge and loving family.  One initial encounter with Dan upsets Nick’s carefully crafted status quo.  As you can imagine, any relationship between a man proud to be out and gay with someone deep in the closet is one strewn with problems, arguments, and adjustments. Especially as each man has erected their own barriers against love and another relationship.  It’s a marvelous dance that will ensure that the reader enjoys it almost as much as the men involved.

But it’s not just the dynamics between Nick and Dan, but all the other towns people as well that draws the reader in.  The Mayor of Blue Ridge and local real estate goddess, Patsy, is as warm, intelligent and complex character as Charity, the wry, brilliant, and scary personal assistant. I love it when the female characters are as well written and deeply layered as the men.  And with these two gems, the reader has two strong women to fall in love with as they add luster and depth to each scene they appear in.  In fact, this story and series is chock full of delights, in characters, plot surprises and a dialog that  snaps and sizzles with the verbal sparring southerners are so  good at.

I highly recommend The Broken Heart Cafe to all readers, lovers of romance, crystalline characterizations and a addicting setting that will have you wanting to make travel arrangements.  T.A. Webb’s title came from a well known country song, “God Bless The Broken Road”:

“Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars

pointing my way into your loving arms” – Robert E. Boyd, Marcus Hummon

Its so perfect for the story, for the characters, and for this series that works its way into heart to stay.  Pick it up and begin your journey to Blue Ridge, Georgia and The Broken Road Cafe.

Cover art by Laura E. Harner.  Sexy, hot, but I miss a sense of location and characters.

Sales Links:     All Romance eBooks (ARe)        Amazon        Broken Heart Cafe

Book Details:

ebook, 143 pages
Published November 3rd 2013 by A Bear on Books (first published November 2nd 2013)
ISBN139781310557057
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Broken Road Cafe #1

The Broken Road Cafe series to date in the order they were written and should be read:

The Broken Road Cafe #1

Brothers In Arms, Broken Road Cafe #2

Go Behind Closed Doors with Andrew Q. Gordon and his release, A Closed Door (book tour and contest)

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Andrew Q. Gordon is here today with his latest release, A Closed Door.  Be sure to read the blurb and  excerpt today and don’t forget to enter the contest for a $10 Amazon gift card.  Link provided below at the end of the post!

Book Name: A Closed Door
Author Name: Andrew Q. Gordon

Author Bio:

Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write. He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his partner of eighteen years, their young daughter and dog.  In addition to dodging some very self-important D.C. ‘insiders’, Andrew uses his commute to catch up on his reading. When not working or writing, he enjoys soccer, high fantasy, baseball and seeing how much coffee he can drink in a day and not get the shakes.

Author Contact:

Twitter: @andrewqgordon
https://www.facebook.com/andrewqugordon

A Closed Door CoverTitle: A Closed Door by Andrew Q. Gordon
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing
Cover Artist: Lily Velden and Jay Aheer
Sales Links:   Wayward Ink Publishing  Amazon US  Amazon UK  Amazon Australia  Amazon DE  Amazon CAN

A Closed Door Blurb:

Outted at thirteen, Orin Merritt left home after high school hoping to escape the hell his life had become. Ten years later when a tornado destroys his childhood home and kills his parents, Orin finds himself in an entirely new nightmare. One he can’t run away from.

Blaming himself for failing the two people who always loved and supported him, he returns home and confronts his past in the person of his one-time best friend, Thomas Kennett.  Thomas not only rejected him when Orin came out, he led the group that tormented Orin into leaving.

As he struggles to deal with his grief, Orin also labors to fulfill the pledge he made to his parents before their death.  In the process, Orin learns that sometimes when you go away to find yourself, you leave the answers you’re looking for behind.

A Closed Door Excerpt:

“Orin, I won’t.” Thomas stood a bit straighter and his eyes lost the sad, pleading shine. “I won’t hurt you again.”

“You can’t promise that. Things happen.” Orin watched as his words dragged Thomas back from the brink of hope.

“If you truly believe that, then there’s nothing I can do. You have to believe there’s a chance or else I can’t prove it.”

“That’s not what I’m telling you.” He locked his gaze on Thomas’s. “If I say yes, I’ll have to take down the walls I surrounded my heart with to keep it safe. Once it’s gone, I won’t be able bring it back if I get hurt. Not now.

“So what I’m saying is, think about what you’re asking me to risk. If you really love me, ask yourself if are you willing to risk what will happen to me if you can’t keep your promise.”

He knew how unfair he’d been, but self-preservation had been a skill he’d honed over the past fifteen years. He needed Thomas to know just how serious the repercussion could be for his actions.

“Orin, I . . . I . . . how . . .?” Their faces were inches apart, and Thomas moved in for another kiss.

This felt different than the first—less urgent, but no less intense. Orin trembled at the leap he was about to take. When they stepped back, Thomas rubbed his thumb across Orin’s cheek.

“I do love you, Orin. More than I can say. So much, that I’m not willing to risk what will happen if I fail you again. I don’t have that right.”

Thomas’s lips quivered and the tears welled at the bottom of his eyes. He kissed Orin’s forehead gently.

“Good-bye, Orin. Please be happy.” Without looking back, Thomas walked to the front door, opened it, and walked away.

ACDBadgeTemplateTour Dates: October 10, 2014

Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Love Bytes, Inked Rainbow Reads, The Hat Party, Cate Ashwood, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Prism Book Alliance, Full Moon Dreaming, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Multitasking Mommas, Regular Guys, Hot Romance, Nephylim, Louise Lyons, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, MM Good Book Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Fallen Angel Reviews, 3 Chicks After Dark, Jade Crystal, Amanda C. Stone, Foxylutely Book Reviews, Iyana Jenna, Because Two Men Are Better Than One, Smoocher’s Voice, Michael Mandrake, Rebecca Cohen Writes, BFD Book Blog

Contest: Rafflecopter Prize: $10 Amazon Gift Card. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the Rafflecopter link provided to enter and for all additional contest details.

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In Our Author Spotlight: RJ Scott and her latest release, Last Marine Standing (guest blog & contest)

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spotlight on booksLast Marine Standing cover

In Our Author Spotlight:

 RJ Scott on Heroes,

Schedules and the

Last Marine Standing!

 RJ Scott is here today to talk about her latest book, Last Marine Standing.  She brought along an excerpt to read and a contest to enter! Now for a closer look at Last Marine Standing…

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The second in my Heroes series, Last Marine Standing, was released yesterday. I think this is about my 68th book (think of the celebration for book 69!). I sayLast Marine Standing cover I think this is book 68, because there have been some shenanigans in the past with publishers, and I’ve also pulled a couple of my stories. Anyway I digress.

Yesterday my book came out, tomorrow I fly to GRL (or the day after depending when this is posted!). I had someone say to me the other day that they thought I didn’t get nervous when I have a new book out, because hey, I’m on book 68 (is). Someone else mentioned that at last year’s GRL I looked confident, if at times quiet. I should imagine the quiet times were when I had wine and a quiet corner, ROFL.

I can address all of this. Every single release I get nervous about. Every one. I worry people will hate, I worry people will laugh, I worry that I should have given up a long time ago. Will the book sell? Will it get into the 100 Gay on Amazon, will it go top 50, top 10. And even if it gets there will it stay there? So yeah, worrier = RJ Scott.

Then GRL. I can quite happily ‘do’ confident. I can stand up in front of people, although I can’t be held responsible for what comes out of my mouth. I can make jokes (at Amber’s expense), I can laugh, I can talk coherently for a while. Doesn’t mean that inside I’m not bricking it (English term = terrified). So yeah, terrified = RJ Scott.

But, I wouldn’t swap these experiences where I am dragged out of my comfort zone. I love being a writer and all that this entails.

I’ll love meeting every one of you at GRL, even if I am crap at putting names to faces, and I’ll love to talk.

By the time you read this I’ll be over my release day nerves. I’ll be in my happy place with wine and packing and excitement. Just the one day mind you, then I’ll be inconsolably nervous about GRL… it never stops.

How do you relax when you get stressed? Are you like me with a glass of wine?

Last Marine Standing

Book two in the Heroes series. Book 1 – A Reason To Stay

For all buy links when they become available click here:

http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/SEALHeroes2.html

Author Bio

RJ Scott has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies. She was told to write a story and two sides of paper about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born.

As an avid reader herself, she can be found reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror. However, her first real true love will always be the world of romance where she takes cowboys, bodyguards, firemen and billionaires (to name a few) and writes dramatic and romantic stories of love and passion between these men.

With over sixty titles to her name and counting, she is the author of the award winning book, The Christmas Throwaway. She is also known for the Texas series charting the lives of Riley and Jack, and the Sanctuary series following the work of the Sanctuary Foundation and the people it protects.

Her 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.

Author Contacts:

 

Last Marine Standing

Last Marine Standing Blurb:

Last Marine Standing cover

 

When the people you trusted turn on you, when you are the last one standing, should you take your secrets to the grave? Or make the murderers pay?

Former Marine Recon, Mackenzie ‘Mac’ Jackson has secrets. The things he did for his country, the things he saw, must never be spoken about. Until that is, his team is targeted.

A shift in political alliances means one particular mission undertaken by Mac and his Fire Team needs to be wiped from the history books. Starting with the team itself.

Forest Ranger, Samuel Larson III wants to find the Marines who saved his life. He just wants to say thank you. What he can’t know is that he’s walking into a firestorm of betrayal and murder.

When Samuel arrives at Mac’s place he throws Mac’s plans for hiding out of the window. Abruptly Mac has to protect a man that threatens his heart, only this time he can’t be sure he will succeed in keeping Sam alive.

When the people you trusted turn on you, when you are the last one standing, should you take your secrets to the grave? Or make the murderers pay?

 

 Last Marine Standing Excerpt

Bear put his hand on his hip and sashayed a little, which looked ridiculous.

Mac shoved him. “I will kill you.”

Bear squared his shoulders and smirked. “You could try.”

Mac weighed the pros and cons. Bear certainly lived up to his nickname—broad, strong, straining the damn fatigues—but Mac knew his teammate’s weaknesses. He estimated he could take him in about five minutes, but he’d probably get a few broken bones in the process. He relaxed his stance, ready to go toe to toe with Bear, but Spider put a hand between the two men.

“The kid’s crying,” Spider pointed out helpfully.

Mac shot his friend a shocked look. Did Spider really think the best thing for the poor kid in the bed was to have some idiot go in and tell him everything would be okay? “That doesn’t mean he needs one of us to talk to him,” he asserted.

Bear crossed his arms over his impossibly broad chest. “You saw what they did, heard what he said. One of us should say something. Threaten to go kill someone or something.”

“We already killed everyone who hurt him,” Spider said evenly. “No one left to shoot.”

 

Word count: TBC but around 54,0000
Cover Art: Meredith Russell
Editor: Erika Orrick
Copyright: RJ Scott

Book two in the Heroes series.

A Reason To Stay Heroes 1 coverLast Marine Standing coverBook 1 – A Reason To Stay

 OUT NOW  For all buy links click here:
Giveaway prize:  $10 Amazon/Are gift card, and prizes of free e-books, must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  For all the contest details and entry form please use the Rafflecopter link provided below:

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A MelanieM Review: Foundation of Trust (Cost of Repairs #5) by A.M. Arthur

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Not everyone gets a second chance with their first love.

Foundation of Trust coverDavid Weller had it all and then it was gone.  Once day David had a loving partner and soon to be stepson, a business he enjoyed and his health.  In one day’s time, everything David thought he knew and had in his life shattered and was gone.  A devastating diagnosis,and a partner who disappeared along with his son.  All gone.

Now four years later, David is still trying to cope with the past and not doing a very good job of it.  He has started a catering business with a friend that’s thriving but his private life is a mess.  Afraid to trust, filled with anger, David spends his nights in one night stands and increasingly dangerous hookups, using pain to assuage his memories and fear.  And then the impossible happens when his ex partner reappears, son in tow and everything changes.

Owen Hart has a life filled with poor life choices and bad decisions.  But Owen thought he left everything behind him when he met David Weller.  Knowing and loving David meant accepting his own homosexuality, loving David meant having a home not only for himself  but for his son.  Then Owen was forced to leave David and the life they had built together.  No warnings, Owen and his son just disappeared.  Now years later, Owen is back to make things right and hopefully make David love and forgive him once more.

A chance encounter proves to David and Owen that the feelings they had for each other remain as explosive as ever, but the wounds inflicted on David by Owen’s disappearance are deep.  Can David ever forgive Owen for his deception and the pain he caused David?  Both men have changed in the years gone by but when a second chance at love and a future together opens up, can the past be forgiven in order for them to have a future together?

Foundation of Trust is the fifth story in the Cost of Repairs series by A.M. Arthur.  As it is also the only story I have read from that series, I approached with carefully wondering how it would work as a stand alone tale.  I shouldn’t have wondered, Foundation of Trust is a beautifully written and well structured story that works on its own.  A tale of poor life choices and second chances, it’s enduring theme and characters pulled me into their story completely, keeping me happily committed from the beginning to end.

I love the reunited lovers trope.  In Foundation of Trust, A.M. Arthur works her magic to give us two wounded men who are truly incomplete without the other, no matter how hard one of them tries to deny it.  In bits and pieces, the author slowly unravels the steps and bad choices that destroyed their partnership and drove Owen to disappear, taking his son who David loved like his own with him.  The devastation that action had upon David and the emotions and pain that followed  come across as utterly deep, and long lasting.  The betrayal and disappearance shattering David just when he needed Owen’s support the most.

A thread that runs throughout this story is the impact a heartrending medical diagnosis can have upon a person’s life and mental outlook.  Without support and with a disasterous back history, learning that one has a serious medical condition is shattering and Arthur is able to bring that situation to life with David’s character.   It was a realistic and moving choice and it works here beautifully.

Owen too has had a troubled past, one that refuses to let him go.  Without giving away any spoilers, I thought that Owen, his strained relationship with his son, and the tough fight ahead of him to make amends and be forgiven are all realistically portrayed.  Owen is as full of pain over the damage he caused, not only to David but his son as well.  Arthur makes sure that there is no instant forgiveness or easy solutions to these mens issues and problems of the past.

I enjoyed this story so throughly that it will send me back to the rest of the series to see what else A. M. Arthur has in store for the characters involved here.  If you love a story of lovers reunited,  of past hurts and betrayals overcome and redemption earned, then Foundation of Trust by A. M. Arthur is the story for you.  I highly recommend it and am now off to search out her other stories and series to date.

Cover artist Lyn Taylor did a wonderful job of bringing the characters and tone of the story to the design and tone of the cover.

Sales Links:   Samhain Publishing       All Romance eBook (ARe)   Amazon  Foundation of Trust

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 239 pages
Expected publication: October 21st 2014 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
original titleFoundation of Trust
ASINB00KT23WJU
edition languageEnglish
seriesCost of Repairs #5

Books in the Series Include:

Cost of Repairs (Cost of Repairs, #1)
Color of Grace (Cost of Repairs, #2)
Weight of Silence (Cost of Repairs, #3)
Acts of Faith (Cost of Repairs #4)
Foundation of Trust (Cost of Repairs, #5)

 

 

A MelanieM Review: Red Dirt Heart 2 (Red Dirt #2) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Red Dirt Heart 2Charlie Sutton had lived a quite, solitary life on his family’s ranch, the Sutton Station, one of Australia’s Northern Territory’s largest farms.  It’s harsh desert landscape and couple million acres of red dirt,  and scorching sun made his self isolation as easy as hiding his sexuality. It was a situation that Charlie had gotten comfortable with, even loved at times.

Then a Texas agronomy grad, Travis Craig appeared in his life by means of an international diversification education program and nothing was ever the same.  Now Charlie’s life is lively, crowded,  upended and confused.  Travis is proudly gay and crazy about Charlie just as Charlie is about him.  Six months of having the one thing he never thought possible is making Charlie happy, and throughly scared.  And all the confusion, self doubts, and questions about their future is starting to make Charlie feel trapped in a way he never felt before.

As problems communicating and issues of exposure rise, one big question looms on the horizon.  Will Travis stay or will he go?

 

The saga of Charlie Sutton, Travis Craig and the Sutton Station continues and happily, it has just grown in dimension and complexity with this new installment.   I fell in love with Charlie, Travis, and all the inhabitants of the  enormous farm called Sutton Station in the first story, Red Dirt Heart 1 where N. R. Walker introduced us to the uncompromising, yet beautiful landscape of the Northern Territory in Australia.  Here the people and animals  inhabit a vast territory, living in some of the harshest conditions found on earth.  Brutal heat, a desolation that stretches for a million acres where nature, not people, make the rules and the cost of  disregarding them is perilous and often deadly.

Through vivid descriptions and a beautiful use of the Australian culture, language and lingo, Walker envelopes the reader once more into the remote world that is Sutton Station and the romance of Charlie Sutton and Travis Craig.  Just as making a living off under such uncompromising conditions takes work and communication, so do relationships.  That that’s where Charlie and Travis are having trouble.

Walker’s Charlie Sutton is a complex, wonderful character.  I almost wrote man because he feels so real and alive to me.  Charlie grew up under the less than benevolent parentage of a father as harsh as the land around them.  That voice that Charlie hears inside his head saying that “no fairy son of mine will ever run the station” is his father’s, a voice and bigoted outlook so ingrained into Charlie’s head and heart that he fears the very openness that Travis represents. The internal struggles that Charlie must work through are mirrored by the battles that must be fought externally in town and the other stations.  And no matter what front the battles are being fought on, internal or otherwise, it always comes across as believable, immediate, and powerful.  Since the story is told from Charlie’s pov, the reader is there for every skirmish, all the mental and emotional arguments and musings running through Charlie’s head and heart as he tries to find a way forward and a future.   Walker had me so involved, so committed to Charlie and Travis that I couldn’t put this story down once I started.

And while its Charlie’s voice and thoughts we hear, we see, learn about and come to love all the others through his eyes.  Travis, of course, comes first.  A man of endless passion, movement, and need to being  doing, something, anything, his big open heart is one the reader finds easy to embrace.  Following quickly on his heels are Ma, George, Bacon, Trudy, Billy and Ernie.  Even those darn animals like Matilda the red kangeroo baby, Texas and Shelby, their horses, everything pours itself into your heart like the red dirt of Sutton Station, inescapable, memorable, and final.

In a funny and welcome addition, N.R. Walker lays out for the reader early on certain vocabulary and colloquialisms non-Australians will find necessary.  I started to correct realise to realize only to find out that no, realise is the Aussie spelling, not ours.  And our Mickey D’s?  Nope, that’s not what it’s called   down under, a funny scene I will let you find on your own. There is no part of this story and series that doesn’t have me seriously enraptured.  I want to go there. Pull on my Akubra and Driza-bone, take a ride in their utes, to experience the country and people I have met through the Red Dirt Heart series.

There are two more books to go, unless we can convince N. R. Walker to extend the series.  Red Dirt Heart 2, in fact the entire Red Dirt Heart saga, is one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2014.  And N. R. Walker  is now on my automatic author buy list.  Pick up these stories and start your journey in this remarkable land and it’s equally intrepid and complex characters.  You will laugh, your heart will hurt, and some tears are going to flow in joy and sorrow.  What a saga and series await you in Red Dirt Heart!

 Cover art by Sara York is wonderful in branding the series and showcasing the landscape.

Sales Links:   All Romance eBooks      Amazon         Red Dirt Heart 2

 Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 250 pages
Published August 17th 2014
ASINB00MT7VJZM
edition languageEnglish
seriesRed Dirt #2

Series to include 4 books that should be read in the order they were written and released for character and relationship development:

Red Dirt Heart 1
Red Dirt Heart 2
Red Dirt Heart 3
Red Dirt Heart 4

Find my author interview with N.R. Walker here.