Review: Stud (Four Bears Construction #5) by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 5 🌈

Stud, the fifth novel in the Four Bears Construction series, is a great example why one should read these stories in the order they were written.

Over the past four novels and romances, we’ve watched the West and Sawyer drama.

Or non drama. Because, although a stone could tell how much in love West has been with the bar owner since the first time they met, Sawyer has firmly kept West in the friend zone, if that. Book after book, glances, even a trip to Hawaii which we get caught up on here, we have seen these two men in serious denial/want about each other.

But in Stud, everything changes. And per this series,the swing in dynamics starts off hilariously. Omg, China dolls! Nope, no spoilers.

West , the nephew of Dare’s (Stone’s mechanic husband),has been a great character throughout the series. He’s been supportive, funny, all the while going through his own amount of personal growth as a young man and craftsman. He’s amazing. So I’ve been waiting for him to get his man and HEA.

Neuhold not only obliges with a funny, warm-hearted romance but an unexpected reunion that gives us all a wonderful closure.

Sawyer has been a peripheral character , one we see at Wooley’s, the bar he inherited from Gus , it’s previous owner, snd the gangs favorite hangout.

In Stud, Sawyer’s past , as astonishingly does Gus’s in a remarkably poignant story element, comes into focus. We see exactly why he’s held West at a distance for so long despite his feelings, and the turmoil inside him when West declares he’s going to start dating.

That declaration jumpstarts Sawyer and his mixed up heart and mind on a strange, funny and quite wonderful path to HEA with West , a restored Victorian, and a bunch of feathered kids. Oh my.

One element I’ve adored in each book has been the great pet/animal(s) per couple. I have sometimes forgotten to mention it. Shame on me because it’s a terrific part of each story and couple.

So here’s the list so far….

Four Bears Construction series animals:

🔵Caulky #1: Cole and Ren’s bees

🔵Nailed #2: Stone and Dare: Rudy and Nard Dog

🔵Hardwood #3, Ev and Watson, Hedgehog

🔵Screwed #4 Ollie and Daniel: Monty the Python

🔵Stud #5, West and Sawyer: Huey, Luey, Duey, Darkwing

🔵Stripped #6, Miller and Dem,

Mars and at the end Shelldon, omg so adorable. Yes review to come. Yes tortoises!

🔵Drilled #7 the finale. Apollo and Ridge, cat Log… been waiting to see a cat tbh. Review to come…

How do you not love a series that folds in such great animals along with sensitive and funny romances?

That’s easy to answer. I do. I do love them.

Each different and great couple, each amazing path to love and HEA.

I don’t have many left. Sort of dreading saying goodbye. But not yet. A few to go.

What a wonderful, heartwarming and joy filled journey it’s been so far.

Like all the others, I hope you’re on this one with me. I highly recommend this one . Stay with me till the end .

Stud: A boss, knob, or nail head…or, you know, the hot guy who’s way too young to keep asking me out with that adorably earnest smile …

It’s been three years since West walked into my bar and asked me out for the first time. I was relieved he stopped asking after the first few “no”s and a way-too-good-to-be-real kiss. He’s fifteen years younger than I am; it can only lead to trouble.

Of course, now he’s running through people off dating apps like it’s his job and wearing these lace panties that look really unfair on someone as furry and muscular as he is, and, um…what was I talking about?

I probably shouldn’t sabotage his dates, but I’m only human. I might not be ready to admit that I want him, but I’m definitely not ready to let anyone else have him either.

He’s too perfect, too hot, and I am in way too much trouble…

*** Stud is a friends-to-lovers, construction-worker-in-panties, omg-so-much-swoon story that happens to be the fifth book in the Four Bears Construction Series. Every book in this series CAN be read as a stand alone, but they’re a lot more fun together!

Stud

Stud. Goodreads sales link to options

Review: Screwed (Four Bears Construction #4) by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 5 🌈

I skipped over Ev’s story ,(Hardwood #3), to get to this one because the characters who are the focus here have been two of the group that have come across as the maybe the most vulnerable and also quite different from the majority of the men we’ve met so far.

The vulnerable one would be Oliver “Ollie”Williams, brother to Cole Williams who fell in love with Ren, our beekeeper in the first story. Ollie’s unfortunate love life and many failed marriages have become an on-running joke at the construction company, one that’s crushing him emotionally. Albeit unknown to the others. All Ollie has ever wanted is the love his parents have and it’s all he’s failed at.

That it’s become this huge joke is awful and we feel so bad for him and the pain he’s been hiding.

The other man? The extremely gorgeous and stylish Daniel McKean, paralegal , Ren’s best friend. Daniel’s had his share of terrible relationships and it’s made his outlook on true love and soulmates a bit jaundiced. He prefers friendships, expensive clothes and a love them /buhbye lifestyle.

That doesn’t mean he’s not about to come to the defense of a man he see’s suffering as the butt of a unfunny joke.

Honestly, I watched these two over the last two books and was going … “yes, they are perfect “!

Fierce Daniel and a bewildered Ollie who couldn’t see why he wasn’t lovable. Be still my heart.

Where Nailed was so much laughter (goats and underwear 🤣😱), this is equal parts soul searching/character growth and still laughter, but perhaps a gentler sort.

There’s too much painful history in both men’s romantic history for this to be a giggle fest. Too much lack of trust , too much each has to learn about themselves and what it means to truly love someone and be in a real relationship.

They do it of course. Through that wonderful trope of a “fake husband “ after a drunken wedding in Las Vegas.

What follows is real, funny, sweet, and, like all the others, a remarkably romantic journey towards true love and HEA.

One we adore taking with them.

This is a series where each couple is so different that they become a fav of mine, each in a different way. I love them all. And can’t wait to read the next ones romance.

Honestly I finish each one feeling happy, light hearted, and joyful.

That’s something I’m thankful for these days.

So yes I’m highly recommending this book and the series.

It doesn’t seem to matter where you start but I’d still start at the beginning. It’s just more fun that way to see the progression.

Synopsis:

I’ve had my fair share of less than proud relationship moments, but waking up married to my brother-in-law’s best friend is a new low.

A drunken wedding to a man who already rejected me once? Check. A hefty bet about how long it will last? Check. My feisty new husband, determined to make our friends pay up? Double check.

I’ve never managed to make a real relationship last nearly a year, there’s no way Daniel will stick around long enough to win this bet. The only problem is the longer he stays, the more the lines blur between what’s real and what’s for show. Does he feel it too or am I totally screwed?

***Screwed is a woke up married, faking it to their friends but also totally hooking up, sweet, STEAMY love story that happens to be the fourth book in the Four Bears Construction series. There are no bear shifters in this series, only the OTHER kind of bears

Screwed

Four Bears Construction series:

🔵Caulky #1

🔵Nailed #2

🔵Hardwood #3

🔵Screwed #4

🔵Stud #5

🔵Stripped #6

🔵Drilled #7

🔵Goats Like Cake Too: Four Bears Construction Series Epilogue

(Four Bears Construction #7.5)

by K.M. Neuhold

Review: : Nailed (Four Bears Construction #2) by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 5🌈

This series….it has really captured my heart.

I mean I have all these other books lined up…mysteries, romance adventures, SyFi … but I keep coming back to these guys and their clumsy, adorable journeys to HEA and true love.

Take Nailed, please. No , really, grab this one right up. Especially if you’re in need of laughter as well as romance.

And dogs. Such adorable dogs. I ❤️ Rudy. And Nerd Dog.

I laughed so much here.

One because Stone is one irresistible teddy bear of, well, a gorgeous bear of a man. Sweet, doesn’t understand why everyone wouldn’t like him, huge heart.

You’re going to adore him. I’m still cracking up over his understanding of traditional “sayings “. I won’t spoil them for you but they leave me in giggles even now, I just love him. I do. Soooo sexy too.

Then there’s the neighbor,Dare Maslow . A bit grumpy, solitary but all with good reason as we eventually find out. Layers with this one. He’s also the owner of the adorable Rudy.

This is such a great enemies to lovers story. I laughed so hard in places. I totally enjoyed their antics as they “fought” and pranked their way to love. To say that I was thoroughly entertained by every step of their tumultuous relationship is to put it mildly. From highly sexy romps to downright hilarity, this couple kept the story flowing fast and so smoothly I was at the end before I knew it and wanted to be.

Of course, all the other “bears” and partners are there. I’ve gotten so fond of them as well.

I’m actually jumping over to Screwed because I just need that story NOW.

I’ll come back to Ev’s immediately after. Honestly, these men.

Anyway, I’m staying the course. I’m reading all the stories here until I’m finished with the series. I need the happiness and laughter these men are bringing into my life at the moment.

It’s such fun and light hearted joy. I’m highly recommending them. Especially this one.

Synopsis:

My new neighbor is a total tool.

He hated me from the second he laid eyes on me, and I don’t have the first clue why… But, if he wants to hate me, I’m happy to give him a few reasons: mowing the lawn at dawn on the weekend, leaving garbage cans in front of his driveway, renting a petting zoo for my backyard…making a list of ways to drive him crazy is half the fun.

He deserves it with the way he’s driving me crazy right back without even trying— walking around without a shirt on, sweaty rippling muscles on full display, well-worn denim jeans perfectly molded to his…well, you get the idea.

My point is, if he wants a war, I’ll give him one.

***Nailed is an enemies to lovers, neighbors who can’t stand each other, omg the anger banging, drool worthy, low angst story, which happens to be the second in my Four Bears Construction series. It CAN be read as a stand alone. There are NO shifters in this series, only the OTHER kind of bears

Nailed

Stone

Rudy the dog

Four Bears Construction series:

🔵Caulky #1

🔵Nailed #2

🔵Hardwood #3

🔵Screwed #4

🔵Stud #5

🔵Stripped #6

🔵Drilled #7

🔵Goats Like Cake Too: Four Bears Construction Series Epilogue

(Four Bears Construction #7.5)

by K.M. Neuhold

Review: Caulky (Four Bears Construction #1)by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 4.5🌈

Caulky is a totally sweet and sexy contemporary romance, the first in a new series about a group of single men working in a construction company.

Best way to describe it comes from a conversation between Cole and Ren where they saw their meeting as a sexy, porn worthy “You’ve Got Mail’. Although neither could agree on who was Meg Ryan… 🤣

Full of humor and sweet insights into the scary nature of dating ,we watch them take as they finally agree to take towards something substantial and potentially wondrous.

Love both Cole and Ren as well as all the characters the surround them. We are likely to see each get their own story in this series and that includes Daniel, Ren’s outrageous best friend.

The beekeeping element is well done and folded in beautifully along side Ren’s character that it adds a depth not only to his personality but to the story as well. Love that.

My only slight quibble was the oddness of having a mother (Cole’s) threatening to “wash your mouth out with soap “ because of a expletive. He’s over forty. While he should respect her desire for a certain type of language in her house, she should also show some in return. But back to that phrase.

Not only is that ridiculous but I’ve always found that expression as offensive as it is old fashioned. It implies a measure of abuse that’s no longer tolerated by society. That phrase shouldn’t be either.

Just my opinion.

That aside, this is a marvelous romance. I adored both men and their relationship. I look forward to to seeing more of them , hopefully, in the novels that follow.

Now I’m onto book two. Can’t wait.

Need a new series and contemporary romance? Try this one, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Synopsis;Ren is in desperate need of a rebound fling. Lucky for him, the smoking hot contractor he hired has just the tool for the job.

The last thing I want is another relationship or another broken heart.

All I need are my bees and the occasional hookup to scratch the itch.

Okay, maybe meeting up with my hot contractor weekly is a little more than occasional. And maybe the way I’m starting to feel about the guy I’ve been anonymously chatting with online should concern me.

But CaulkyAF doesn’t want to meet, and Cole doesn’t want anything serious, so what’s the worst that could happen?

****Caulky is book 1 in the Four Bears Construction series and can be read as a stand-alone. This is a funny, steamy MM story guaranteed to make you laugh and swoon. Absolutely NO cheating and NO love triangle. This series does NOT contain shifters, it’s the OTHER kind of bears.

K.M.

K.M. Neuhold

Four Bears Construction series:

🔵Caulky #1

🔵Nailed #2

🔵Hardwood #3

🔵Screwed #4

🔵Stud #5

🔵Stripped #6

🔵Drilled #7

🔵Goats Like Cake Too: Four Bears Construction Series Epilogue

(Four Bears Construction #7.5)

by K.M. Neuhold

Review: Limelight (Vino & Veritas #15) by E. Davies

Rating: 3.5🌈

Here I am diving back into the Vino and Veritas series and Burlington,Vermont. It’s like coming home.

A bit of a change here in that the main characters are only peripherally connected to V & V instead of working at either establishment.

Caleb Holt, poet and accountant, adorable nerd , goes to live mic night and reads his poetry. Or does on the night he meets Tag.

That would be Titus “Tag “ Taylor, former famous rocker now bee keeper and meadery owner. The rocker part of his life is behind him and something he’s kept secret since he came to Burlington, giving up. Titus for Tag. An identity he far prefers.

From the moment they spot each other, it’s a story of love at first sight or at least first meeting. These two are almost deeply committed to each other within a week.

And while they do a lot of talking, it’s not completely honest. While Caleb, virgin that he is, is communicating his need for clarity and openness in a relationship Tag is inwardly justifying why he is hiding a huge part of who he was from Caleb. A huge something that has the potential to disrupt his life once again via the internet and paparazzi.

Once they get together, Tag’s inability to tell Caleb is frustrating especially as he is given endless opportunities.

As a reader I far prefer my characters and couples to act like adults. And that means communication. Something missing here.

I love the whole beekeepering and meadery elements. Those just added such richness to this story and depth to the character of Tag. I really could see his love for his craft, the bees, and all the different meads he crafted. In fact, I was ready for a taste testing myself.

I really need to find a meadery.

Caleb’s family, overbearing and loving. Also a genuine plus. As was his poetry.

Don’t get me started on Queenie. Loved her.

But that relationship was quick, and a bit too instant love for me to commit to it immediately. I just was too wary. For Caleb , and then Tag.

I liked the epilogue. That was sweet and heartwarming.

Overall a sweet romance I put in the win column .

Synopsis:Save the bees, ride a rock star.

Formerly famous . . . and planning to keep it that way.

After my band kicked me out, I ran away to Vermont, changed my name, and kept my head down. So far, it’s working and nobody knows who I am. Or who I was. Until I see geeky poet Caleb stumbling through his first open mic night and I can’t help rescuing him. He’s as sweet as the honey my bees make and sexy enough to make me rethink so many things. But I can’t tell him my secret, or I’ll lose the anonymous life I worked so hard to build.

Everyone warns me he’s too good to be true.

I can’t believe a gorgeous, successful winemaker like Tag is into shy, geeky little accountant me. But he helps me blossom and believe in my talent, and works his way into my heart and my bed… not necessarily in that order. I’m falling for a man for the first time, and now I know what the missing number in my equation has always been.

When lies are revealed, though, someone’s going to get stung

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsLimelight (Vino and Veritas, #15) by E. Davies

Vino and Veritas series to date:

🔵Featherbed (Vino and Veritas 1) by Annabeth Albert

🔵Heartscape #2 by Garrett Leigh

🔵Headstrong #3 by Eden Finley

🔵Undercover #4 by Eliot Grayson

🔵Aftermath #5 by LA Witt

🔵Booklover #6 by JE Birk

🔵Flipcup #7 by Kim Hartfield f/f

🔵Hideaway #8 by Rachel Lacey f/f

🔵Turnabout #9 by Laurel Greer

🔵Unguarded #10 by Jay Hogan

🔵Insatiable #11 by Rhys Everly

🔵Daybreak #12 by Kate Hawthorne

🔵Heartsong #13 by AE Wasp

🔵Stronghold #14 by Ana Ashley

🔵Limelight #15 by E Davis

🔵Unforgettable #16 by Marley Valentine

🔵Showstopper #17 by Regina Kyle

🔵Undone #18 by Leslie McAdams

https://www.goodreads.com › seriesWeb resultsVino & Veritas Series by Annabeth Albert – Goodreads

Review : Fathers of the Bride by Marshall Thornton

Rating: 5 🌈

I’ve so often associated Marshall Thornton with his outstanding but often gritty , and dark stories and series (Boystown series and Pinx Video Mysteries series, both must reads) that I forget this author also writes extremely funny, effervescent novels.

Such as Fathers of the Bride, just released.

Incredibly witty, often with on point dialogue so sharp you could cut a razor thin slice of wagyu to serve up to whom ever is being dissected over an immaculately prepared menu. Talk about spew worthy sentences and comments made! Oh my!

A lovely wine or cocktail at hand and sitting around the table, characters so memorable and utterly charming as to win their way swiftly into your heart.

This book was just what I needed.

It starts off with a sharp little prologue from their daughter, Kelly Kettering-Lane. She begins remarking how much her name sounds more like a street address then an actual person. I immediately love her. It only gets better as she tells us her fathers ruined her wedding. Oh the glee!

Then we jump to Chapter 1 and already the anticipation is high!

We meet one father first, Miles Kettering-Lane . Very flamboyant, very ummm the House and Garden network host you would have in your mind…. If it was an updated version of Charles Nelson Reilly.

Not familiar? YouTube or Google him. He’s magnificent. And his commentary on his returned daughter is one for the ages, for framing and one a lot of fathers would agree with.

In other words, he’s perfection.

When he says agoraphobia has gotten a bad rap? Spew moment number 1.

Anyway moving on because I could quote this man all day.

This daughter/ father relationship was intimate and so wonderfully built that I pictured them easily.

I had a great surprise coming. Been debating how much I should say.

But when father of the bride 2 shows, Andy Kettering-Lane, it’s completely marvelous because Thornton shows us a father/daughter dynamic that works just as deeply and lovingly but in a completely different way.

I was dumbfounded as I how much I adored how the shifts in dynamics felt real and moving. Each man displaying a different knowledge of their daughter and the same for the daughter.

And into this falls a complicated son in law parents uh foursome dynamics. You have to read it, trust me. Then there’s Andy’s young influencer boyfriend Raj and his ever present streaming. Yeah we know him.

The wedding zillas start growing, things get immediately and hysterically out of control, including feelings.

Those pesky things.

Miles and Andy are ground in their long personal history, the love that never seemed to have left them, and a house that holds nothing but love and memories.

Ok I really need to start rereading this again. Just writing this review reminds me of all the things I love about the story and want to relive.

Take it from me. You need love and laughter, lively snark, outstanding spew worthy dialogue, and a second chance at love story in your life. Fathers of the Bride is it. Grab it up, start reading now! I highly recommend it!

Synopsis: After more than two decades together, Andrew Lane and Miles Kettering-Lane are going through a nasty divorce. Not only are they unraveling their relationship but also their business—Miles once had a popular home show on cable with Andrew serving as his producer/manager—the failure of which they blame on each other. Now, they’d be happy to never, ever see each other again. But the daughter they both adore, Kelly, announces she’s getting married, and that means one very important thing: a wedding.

Thrown together, at event after event—meeting the in-laws, planning the wedding, throwing an elaborate engagement party—the two clash over everything until, their future in-laws, Bradley and Pudge Lincoln and Terry and Lissa Collins, try to take over the entire wedding. The Lincoln-Collins’ are very wealthy, to quote Pudge, “People think we’re in the one percent but that’s so embarrassing. We’re barely in the two percent!”

Andrew and Miles realize they have to work together in order to compete with the overbearing Lincoln-Collins’ and give their daughter the wedding she deserves. Along the way, they realize things just might not be over between them

Goodreads Sales link:

Fathers of the Bride

Review: Dragon Ever After (Here Be Dragons #1) by Louisa Masters

Dragon Ever After (Here Be Dragons #1) by Louisa Masters

Rating: 4.25 🌈.

First thing this book taught me? Don’t judge a story by it’s “CRASH !!!”.

Outside of comic books (awesome) and the Adam West Batman tv series ( equally awesome), a word like that is most likely to be followed by a KERPOW! or a BAM!

None of which I really want in my romances at the moment. Go figure.

But that initial (and only) Adam West worthy action capped exclamation aside, this story is a wonderful romantic read.

Second thing this book taught me? I really need to go find and dive into the entire Hidden Species series for which this story and new series is not only linked but has as its foundation. Huh. Didn’t know that. Missed a good series as well as a bunch of back history and world building apparently.

Both the main leads here played huge, I’m talking honking big , hero roles in that series. So yeah, need to do that asap. It’s where they first meet after all and, if one (meaning me or any reader new to these characters and universe) ,needs to know exactly what a lucifer is or the CSG, well, it’s to those books we go.

However, even with missing past histories and universe building, the author does attempt to fill in some of the Hidden Species highlights so we don’t feel completely in the dark.

That plus the marvelous and utterly charming characters we meet here make this a story you will want to read and a series to add to your watch list.

There’s a whole host of splendid beings, a bunch a fascinating dragons adjusting to a new world to adore, Brandt and Percy’s relationship which was quick, often sexy and very funny, and an entire family of friends to get to know. I quickly found them all to be a very engaging, warm-hearted bunch!

It all starts with that crash in the backyard of Percy Caraway, Felid shifter, former Lucifer at CSG. The crashee? A very young dragonet out for a night spin without his parents knowledge. To the rescue?

Wing Leader Brandt. Be still Percy’s heart and ours.

The author has a wonderful way with a humorous phrase and situation. Whether it’s tweens on the loose or adults looking for privacy, everyone here can relate and laugh. And love these beings in lust and love.

The story isn’t a long one and will leave you wanting more of both this new universe and characters.

I look forward to the next installment.

Meanwhile it’s off to track down the Hidden Species series.

Read this. I know you’re going to enjoy it as much as I did.

Synopsis:Note to self: You can’t teach an old dragon new tricks … he likes to invent his own.

After half a century of chaos, my retirement from leading the Community of Species Government has been bliss. No more hellhounds playing pranks. No more snippy demons demanding my attention. No more cajoling money from the wealthy to support the community. Just peace while I avoid my overbearing father and try to work out what my next steps will be.

Although… maybe three years of peace is enough. It might even be starting to get… boring. In fact, an adolescent dragon crash-landing on my landlord’s shed is just the kind of excitement I need—especially when he brings his species leader to my door.

Brandt. Wing leader of all dragons, suave, sexy, and … slightly unhinged. It doesn’t take much for him to convince me to give up my solitude and spend some time getting to know him. It’s hard to care about the future when I’ve got a dragon of my own to “play” with. Naked dragon rides for the win, right?

But Brandt’s the leader of his people, on call for them all the time, and I’ve left that part of my life behind me. Plus my father insists I should fulfil my duty to the family by getting a nine-to-five job and “marrying well.” That’s not what I want, but riding herd on a group of beings who fly, breathe fire, and could literally crush me beneath their feet would be a huge challenge, especially since Brandt’s kind of loose with r Note to self: You can’t teach an old dragon new tricks … he likes to invent his own.

It all comes down to how much I want my very own dragon ever after.

This exciting spin-off from the Hidden Species series kicks off with Percy’s romance.

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsDragon Ever After (Here Be Dragons, #1) by Louisa Masters – Goodreads

Review: Honey from the Lion(Love Across Time #2) by Jackie North

Honey from the Lion(Love Across Time #2) by Jackie North

Rating: 4.5 🌈

One of the series threads of the Farthingdale Ranch series is that of the mysterious disappearance of one of Farthingdale ranch’s first guest or dudes when it opened up for business. A young man called Laurie Quinn vanished without a trace and sends business at the ranch into a downward spiral from which it’s still trying to recover.

At the ranch, people aren’t supposed to talk about it, even mention the ghost story Bill told that night that launched the events, one he’s never told since.

But it does get mentioned, book after book. And I wondered if we were ever going to know what happened.

I was reading through the author’s backlist when this book and synopsis popped up. Huh. My very answer in front of me.

Honestly, there needs to be a link.

Anyway. If you’d asked me what had happened to that young man, bears, wolves , mountain lions, ok, but not time travel would have been my answer.

However, Jackie North has written a very moving , poignant tale of a clash of men, the realistic shock of finding yourself back in 1891 where it’s not as nostalgic or prairie romantic as tv series or books picture it. Nope, the reality is raw, harsh, bone chilling cold, and almost traumatizing. Especially when you’re not sure you’ll get home to your time.

What’s soon apparent is how Laurie’s nighttime wish plays into this all.

One heartbreaking campfire ghost story that Bill swears is true, one Meteor shower, Iron Mountain, and one man’s wish.

The author ensures the reader’s awareness of the truth breaks wide open as the story unfolds, we start to gather together all the right elements. Anticipation, fear for our couple, awareness of time and history playing out, hope that somehow a new path can be charted, and a total connectivity to everything happening before us.

It’s thrilling, heartbreaking, romantic, and chilling. In a word, wonderful.

Each character here is so faithful to his era that is makes the story feel that more grounded in its universe, no matter which one it is.

My only quibble and I’m not sure it would even work here with the 2 person POV is I desperately wanted Laurie to let the Ranch know. Somehow . Then I thought some things had to have changed like the belt. Hmmmm. A true time travel conundrum.

Just not sure if the author is going to take that into account going forward with the next 3 stories in the Farthingdale Ranch series.

Anyhow that bothered me a bit as you can see. Loose ends….

Outside of that, this is a truly moving story and romance. It gets the era, the rough living and raw feel of the times just right while leaving in the potential for love and tenderness, no matter what time you came from.

A great delight.

And don’t forget to grab up and read all the Farthingdale Ranch series, a must read each and every one. Three to date, more to come.

Soulmates across time. A love that was meant to be.

In present day, Laurie, tired of corporate life, takes a much-needed vacation at Farthingdale Dude Ranch.

The very first night a freak blizzard combined with a powerful meteor shower takes Laurie back to the year 1891. When he wakes up in a snowbank, his only refuge is an isolated cabin inhabited by the gruff, grouchy John Henton, who only wants to be left alone. His sense of duty prevails, however, and he takes Laurie under his care, teaching him how to survive on the wild frontier.

As winter approaches, Laurie’s normal fun-loving manner make it difficult for him to connect with John, but in spite of John’s old-fashioned ways, the chemistry between them grows.

Sparks fly as the blizzard rages outside the cabin. Can two men from different worlds and different times find happiness together?

A male/male time travel romance, complete with hurt/comfort, true confessions, a shared bed, fireplace kisses, the angst of separation, and true love across time

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsHoney from the Lion (Love Across Time, #2) by

Review: Farview (Greynox to the Sea) by Kim Fielding

Rating : 5 🌈

Farview (Greynox to the Sea) by Kim Fielding

When I see a new release from Kim Fielding, i always know to expect several things. I’m about to embark on a remarkable journey. It will be one of both deep despair and incredible highs. I’ll meet many unique and memorable beings along the way, who through great trials, states of tremendous grief or the beginnings of love, achieve greatness. Sometimes in glory, sometimes in a sort of quietude.

Characters often those like Oliver Webb and Felix Corbyn, to name just two, who have a huge adventure in front of them.

As do we.

Oliver and Felix are remarkable in that at first they appear quite mundane. Ahhh….such magic in the telling and unfolding.

There will be some humor, light as rare pink sprights in flight or warm-hearted as a tiny imp with a treasure of tangled threads.But , true to form, there’s also immense pain and darkness and despair. For no one knows better then Fielding that to truly appreciate the white. brightest of that golden light that glows at the final peak for the brave that successfully overcome all odds to achieve their quest that they first must endure the darkness, the brutality , the loss of hope and love in order to gain it back again.

Sometimes in one of her stories you’re not even sure the heroes will prevail. That is the journey they must endure and learn from itself that’s the quest and not whatever the item to be found at the end they’ve been asked to find.

It’s in her characters, their relationships, the universe and the peoples and beings around them that’s the treasure each reader finds and gleans something personal from. I can find something new each time I reread her stories. They have that much depth.

Farview contains everything I expect from a Kim Fielding story. Outstanding universe building, characters that slowly reveal their layers, of character and history, as they grow together and into your heart. A magical mystery, a heartbreaking illness, imps, dragons, and a village by the sea that will exert a emotional pull on you just as it does on Oliver.

At times I found myself bawling my eyes out. My heart hurt that badly for all involved. And I wasn’t sure exactly how it all would work out.

Strangely and perfectly enough, not in anyway I foresaw.

Love it when that happens.

The ending left me smiling, eyes closed, listening as I imagined the sounds of the sea calling, the salt in the wind and the sounds of laughter ringing up from over the cliffs…..

Perfection.

I highly recommend Farview and Kim Fielding if you haven’t found this author yet.

Now to wait impatiently for her next release!

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsFarview (Greynox to the Sea) by Kim Fielding – Goodreads

Synopsis: Ravaged by a horrific experience, Oliver Webb flees the smog-bound city of Greynox for a quiet seaside village and the inheritance he’s never seen: a cottage called Farview. He discovers clear skies, friendly imps, and a charming storyteller named Felix Corbyn.

With help from Felix’s tales, Oliver learns surprising secrets about his family history and discovers what home really means. But with Felix cursed, Oliver growing deathly ill, and an obligation in Greynox hanging heavy around his neck, it seems that not even wizards can save the day.

Still, as Felix knows, stories are the best truths and the most powerful magic. Perhaps the right words might yet conjure a chance for happiness

Review: The Blacksmith and the ExCon(Farthingdale Ranch #2)by Jackie North

The Blacksmith and the Ex-Con(Farthingdale Ranch #2) by Jackie North

Rating: 5🌈

One theme that became easily apparent among all three Farthingdale books is that each contains one man’s journey from an abusive, traumatic past into a new renewed bright future. His path , one we accompany him on, is marked by a series of obstacles of varying elements, from small sidesteps off the path to what might seem insurmountable boulders to scale before he can recover and get, along with his true love, their HEA.

As I’ve mentioned in my other reviews, I started with the third novel in the series, went back to the beginning, and now end here at The Blacksmith and the Ex-Con while I await the release of the next stories.

So I can say this is probably the one novel most guaranteed to bring out the sniffles, that box of Kleenex, and the carton of ice cream. With one spoon.

Because Ellis and his history is heartbreaking! What he’s been through, yes, including the extremely poor choices the man made himself and paid for, he’s in our hearts. From the minute we meet him, bloody, beaten, filled with fear, hearing his story….we’re connected to Ellis. Mute, brutalized from his time in prison,Ellis is perhaps the most broken of all the traumatized men we’ve met in all these stories.How could you not hurt for him?

Jackie North has written such a vulnerable, heartbreaking character here that you want to enfold him , wrap him up safely so as to keep him from further harm.

Jasper, our Blacksmith, who’s self isolated himself within his work and cabin has such tight boundaries to begin with. But from his past history , we understand what caused him to establish them to begin with…a need to protect himself. However nothing prepares him for Ellis. Jasper will come to feel that its Ellis who’s in need of protection and more. But it will take time and an adjustment of his mind and heart to get there. Something we get a window into.

Both men are incredibly complex, emotionally and mentally. Life has added so many more layers of trauma and pain filled history between them to navigate that each tentative movement towards each other is often over a minefield.

Yet in a small cabin by a slow flowing River it becomes a thing of physical poetry, raw and emotional and shy.

All interspersed with the heat of the forge, the stamp of horses hooves as they wait to be shod or for a carrot treat, or any of the other daily ranch duties scheduled that flows through their lives and story.

It’s a found family at this ranch and all the people there seamlessly move around this couple and on the ranch as to make the reader see and feel apart of a living, working guest ranch. And this amazing group of people.

When the showdown comes, and in the utter relief at the end , I was reflecting on how much Ellis and Jasper had been through and how far they had come, and us with them.

What a journey! I was almost crying. In joy. What a story and couple. I look forward to seeing more of them in future stories as I know I will.

Another true pleasure with this remarkable series. I highly recommend this and all the books in this series.

Synopsis:

“If anybody ever needed him, Ellis did. Ellis was broken. Jasper liked to fix things.”

Jasper has the perfect life. He’s a blacksmith at a small guest ranch in Wyoming. The last thing he needs is to have that perfect life interrupted by a shifty-eyed ex-con, but the ranch needs the tax benefits the ex-con program will bring.

Traumatized by his time in prison, Ellis can barely speak. He’s about to be offered parole. He knows he will hate working on the guest ranch, but what other option does he have?

It’s not love at first sight. It’s not hate at first sight, either, but something in between.

A gay m/m cowboy romance with age gap, hurt/comfort, opposites attract, forced intimacy, emotional scars, trauma leading to mutism, grumpy/grumpy, and baths. A little sweet, a little steamy, with a guaranteed HEA

Need a new series to read and love? Start here. I’m recommending them all.

Out now:

The Foreman and the Drifter #1

The Blacksmith and the Ex-Con #2

The Ranch Hand and the Single Dad #3

Coming Soon – The newest books in the Farthingdale Ranch Series! soon…..

The Wrangler and The Orphan #4

The Cook and the Gangster #5

The Trail Boss and the Brat #6

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