Category: Contemporary fiction

A MelanieM Review: Arctic Sun (Frozen Hearts #1) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

 

Everything’s bigger in Alaska, especially the HEAs. Annabeth Albert kicks off the brand-new Frozen Hearts series with Arctic Sun, an opposites-attract romance between a rugged outdoorsman and a smoking hot former male model.

He’s built a quiet life for himself in Alaska. But it doesn’t stand a chance against the unrelenting pull of a man who’s everything he shouldn’t want.

Ex-military mountain man Griffin Barrett likes his solitude. It keeps him from falling back into old habits. Bad habits. He’s fought too hard for his sobriety to lose control now. However, his gig as a wildlife guide presents a new kind of temptation in superhot supermodel River Vale. Nothing the Alaskan wilderness has to offer has ever called to Griffin so badly. And that can only lead to trouble…

River has his own methods for coping. Chasing adventure means always moving forward. Nobody’s ever made him want to stand still—until Griffin. The rugged bush pilot is the very best kind of distraction, but the emotions he stirs up in River feel anything but casual, and he’s in no position to stay put.

With temptation lurking in close quarters, keeping even a shred of distance is a challenge neither’s willing to meet. And the closer Griffin gets to River, the easier it is to ignore every last reason he should run.

Arctic Sun is another successful contemporary romance from Annabeth Albert, one of my go to authors. This wonderful story manages to combine the breathtaking scenery and isolated landscape of Alaska with the romance between two  complicated, wounded men, highly different on the surface and yet so alike deep underneath.

With the state of Alaska as a third main character as well as a location, Albert also deals with some serious subject matter, also through her two main men.  While it’s obvious from the start that each man is struggling with some demon or demons, what they are exactly is a slower reveal.  The exact nature of what each man is battling is hinted at and given away in the synopsis so I don’t mind spelling it out here.  For Griffin Barrett, it’s sobriety and gambling.  For River, a eating disorder and a toxic way of life.  And neither one has exactly finished dealing with their addictions in a way that’s helping them move forward.  One is hiding and one is running.

Both away from themselves until they find each other in Alaska.  And Annabeth Albert brings us intimately into their journey and the larger than life wonder that is Alaska.

I loved the use of the photography group as a format for bringing Griffin out of his typical hermit like state and the other participants were great characters.  It let the model River slowly ease away to the real person underneath and I enjoyed that journey as much as Griffin.  And all the sights they took in. The locations and the beauty of Alaska is described in depth as is the joys of travels by aircraft of all sizes and type.  What I did think was underplayed was the long arctic nights and extreme cold as well as the distance between people and small towns. But that’s perhaps for another story as this is but the first in a series.

The complications, angst, and rediscovery here is saved for River and Griffin.  It’s one tough journey and a very rewarding one.  I loved the men and the HFN they received at the end.  It was realistic and heartwarming.  And I’m ready for more.

An Annabeth Albert story is a cause for joy.  The people are so real, the books so well written, that you just fall into them fully, connecting with the romance and their lives.    I highly recommend all her series and this story.  Pick them and this up and get started today.

Cover art is gorgeous with the seaplane and the mountains in the backdrop.

Buy now:
Harlequin: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781488051258_arctic-sun.html
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Frozen-Hearts-Annabeth-Albert/dp/1335006885/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/arctic-sun-annabeth-albert/1129705419
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/arctic-sun/id1438313132
kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/arctic-sun-1
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Annabeth_Albert_Arctic_Sun?id=G55zDwAAQBAJ
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Arctic-Sun-Audiobook/1488206201

 

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 384 pages
Published April 1st 2019 by Carina Press
ASINB07J3C79NH
Edition Language English
Series Frozen Hearts #1

Publisher’s Note: Arctic Sun deals with topics some readers may find difficult, including sobriety and eating disorders

Frozen Hearts Series

Arctic Sun

Arctic Wild  cpming June 3rd

A Stella Review: Copper Creek (Sawyer’s Ferry #3) by Cate Ashwood

RATING 5 out of 5 stars

Frankie:
My life sucks.
After spending a year jobless and on the edge of becoming homeless, I’d officially reached a level of desperation that, even if I wasn’t completely broke, retail therapy couldn’t fix.
While Sawyer’s Ferry, Alaska, is the last place on earth I’d ever want to visit, when my best friend, Holden, begs me to fly out and plan his wedding, I can’t say no. What I didn’t expect was to stumble into the administrative chaos at Copper Creek Brewing—or its too-hot-to-be-legal owner.
Clearly the man needs my help, and I’m willing to go above and beyond.
Way beyond.

Barrett:
I am screwed.
Six months after my assistant up and quit, I’m not any closer to finding a replacement, and things at the brewery are starting to fall apart.
And then in walks Frankie. He’s not the typical guy you’d find in these parts, and he brings with him a world of confusion. Because as much as I need his help, I can’t seem to keep my eyes—or hands—off him.
He’s supposed to be getting my life in order, but instead there’s a chance he could turn everything upside down.

Cate Ashwood delivered another great book, I have to say I couldn’t wait for Frankie story, I knew it would have been awesome as he is. I was a big fan of him, he is a fabolous friend, a character always positive, open and ready to help, even when he is deep in problems and he can’t see some light shining in his future. Sometimes we really just need to wait and be brave and all the good can happen, in love and work, as it happens to Frankie.

I fell so easily into Barrett and Frankie lives. It was so clear from the beginning how much they were into each other. Although Barrett has never been attracted to a man in the past, although Frankie is in Sawyer’s Ferry only for planning his best friend’s wedding, still something important is beginning and it will change them. One thing I appreciate a lot about Barrett was how easily he accepted his love with another man, sure there were some initial doubts, but at end he easily saw how deep were this feeling for Frankie and tried to fix their relationship.

As everything Cate writes, Copper Creek was a lovely story, I liked everything about it, I was able to meet Holden and Gage again and see how happy they were, still the ending was the better part, so sweet and romantic, it was simple to fall in love with these men all over again.

I feel to recommend the whole Sawyer’s Ferry series, it’s very well done and you won’t be disappointed.

The cover art by Cate Ashwood is clean and simple, it follows the style of the other covers in the series, I like it.

Sales Link:  Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

Kindle Edition, 213 pages

Published March 25th 2019

ASIN B07PZF68J4

Edition Language English

Sawyer’s Ferry Series

Alaska

Laguna

Bishop Ridge

Whisky Christmas 2.5

Copper Creek

An Ali Review: Loose Lips & Relationships (Flaming, MO #1) by AJ Rose and Kate Aaron

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Flaming, Missouri is the perfect place for police officer Marc Warren to heal his battered heart after a broken marriage. The tourist town is an easy beat and he finds sanctuary in his beautiful cabin on the Lake of the Ozarks. So when Grant “Good Time” Taylor shows interest, Marc is in no hurry to let Flaming’s resident bad boy rock his boat.

Grant has no interest in dating locals. Tourists are plentiful and don’t want more than he’s willing to give. But a bar bet turns personal when Marc hands him a humiliating public rejection. If Grant wants to get under the mysterious officer’s skin, he’ll have to offer more than a temporary port.

The small town rumor mill gets a jumpstart as Marc and Grant realize what they’ve been missing all along—each other. But not everyone is happy for them. Someone will stop at nothing to sink the budding relationship. Can Marc and Grant overcome their fears to fight for each other, or is their happiness destined to drown?

I had read one of the authors before but not the other so I was not sure what I was getting into with this book.  It was well written and entertaining in many ways.  It also included a very sweet romance.
The biggest issue I had with the story was the use of lack of communication as the core relationship issue.  It’s a personal pet peeve of mine and I always struggle with books that include this plot device.  These two were ridiculous in their lack of discussing things.  I was also hoping for more mystery.  There was a small one here but it wasn’t detailed or well developed.  The story was way more romance than mystery which is fine, just not what I was expecting.
Overall I enjoyed this and I think my qualms with it were personal and not stuff that would bother everyone.  If you’re looking for a sweet story this may be a good series for you to check out.
Cover:  I think the cover is fine but it does not really stand out from other books.
Sales Links:  Amazon
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 298 pages
Published February 25th 2019
ASINB07P7RJM1B
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesFlaming, MO #1

An Alisa Review: Kiss Me, Daddy (Club 83 #1) by Quinn War

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

Andy’s a recent college graduate with a mountain of debt and a load of regret over earning a degree he’ll never use. When he takes a job at a local gay bar, he doesn’t expect the first person to catch his eye to be the man he’s been dreaming about since a chance encounter.

Joshua’s comfortable in his life. He has an amazing son who’s wise beyond his years, an ex-wife who’s one of his best friends, and a great job. Now, if only those closest to him would quit hounding him to start dating again after the divorce.

Joshua finds what’s been missing with the other people he’s tried dating the first time Andy slips up and calls him Daddy. What starts as a slip of the tongue could lead to what both men really need and want.

Hmmm, this story was nice but didn’t connect with me or draw me in like the Kinky in the City series did.  I really like kink but I don’t like when the characters fly by the seat of their pants instead of having discussions and determining what the other wants and that is what it felt like these characters did.  They talked a little at one point about what they want but it was less than a page and I didn’t feel as though it did the story any benefit.

This is loosely connected to the Kinky in the City series which bring Calvin and Frankie into the story a little but what rubbed me wrong about that is it made their relationship out to be the Daddy/Boy dynamic that Joshua and Andy have and that’s not what I remember from their story.  I even went back an checked and it wasn’t like that.

Seeing the story from both of these characters’ points of view helps to understand them both.  Gosh, Andy is adorable and I just wanted to hold him and tell him everything would be okay.  He just continues to build things up in his head until he is thinking the worst which is one of the reasons he longs for a Daddy but I think the support Joshua gives goes even farther.  Joshua has a strange family set up and Andy is the first person who doesn’t turn away when it comes up though I think at times it causes Andy undue stress.  We get a quick look at who may be the next couple and I hope to continue reading the series and see if it picks up for me.

The cover art gives a cute visual of Andy.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 229 pages

Published: March 28, 2019

Edition Language: English

Series: Club 83 #1

TJ Nichols on Mytho Origins and Lust and Other Drugs (Mytho #1) by T.J. Nichols

Lust and Other Drugs (Mytho #1) by T.J. Nichols

Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Tiferet Design

Buy Links:  Dreamspinner Press | Kobo | iTunes | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host TJ Nichols here today on tour for Lust and Other Drugs.  Welcome, TJ.

 

 

Mytho—Origins

One of the first thing people ask when a new book comes out is ‘where did the idea come from?’

It would be nice if there were an easy answer. A point in time where I could pinpoint exactly how the pieces came together. A story, for me, comes in many bits that have to be assembled without any instructions.

I think the first bit that appeared was Edra. I wanted to write a dragon shapeshifter and thought it might be fun if he had invisibility issues (he can’t control it all that well), which can make things awkward.

I wanted to set the book in the here and now, not an alternate earth like the Demonology series. But I had no idea how dragons fitted into our world so let the idea sit.

Months later I remembered reading something about the Hadron Collider and remembered all the predictions of ripping the world apart that had been made—but I still had no story at this point.

Then I went to a crime writing workshop (for no good reason besides a general interest) and thought that maybe I could add that in, maybe the love interest is a cop. And the love interest likes pretty lingerie (I don’t know why, sometimes a character insists and it’s easier and more interesting to go with it, so I did). So Jordan arrived with his pet can and lingerie.

Then it all snowballed into an idea that I could play with.

What if it wasn’t our world the Hadron Collider destroyed, but the Mytho world. The place where mythological creatures and people lived, though they had sometimes interacted with our world, thus our myths and legends. What if the Mytho world collapsed into ours and now we have werewolf and vampire and ogre refugees?

I had to make a choice here, I either wrote about the disaster, the fighting, marshal law and internment camps for mythos that would inevitably happen in such a disaster or I let all of that happen and write 10 years on when humans have grudgingly accepted that the Mythos are here to stay and cops are trying to police satyrs and mermaids and beings they know very little about. I went with the later simply because I didn’t want to write the grim fighting and death and destruction (I was writing the Demonology series at the time and this series needed to be a little lighter.

I plotted out the romance arc over several books, gave Edra and Jordan a crime to solve in each book and that was that. And that was about two years before I started writing Lust and other Drugs. All the plots and character arc sat there waiting for attention.

This sometimes happens, book ideas have to wait until I have time or the calling to write them (it’s kind of like my brain going, THIS ONE NOW and everything falls neatly into place).

The only thing I hadn’t decided on was where to set the story. I had two locations in mind Sydney, Australia (I’m an Aussie so that was the easy choice) of San Francisco. Both places have bridges and an island in the bay (both of which matter). In the end I went with SF (Which I’ve only visited once) so yay for the internet and the brilliant SFPD website.

Of course the Mytho world collapsing into ours changed a few things so any errors are clearly meant to be there and happened as part of the disaster…

About the Author

TJ Nichols is an avid runner and martial arts enthusiast who first started writing as child. Many years later while working as a civil designer, TJ decided to pick up a pen and start writing again. Having grown up reading thrillers and fantasy novels, it’s no surprise that mixing danger and magic comes so easily. Writing urban fantasy allows TJ to bring magic to the every day. TJ enjoys writing novellas and novels and has a series, Studies in Demonology, coming out with DSP Publications.

With two cats acting as supervisors, TJ has gone from designing roads to building worlds and wouldn’t have it any other way. After traveling all over the world and Australia, TJ now lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Website: www.tjnichols-author.blogspot.com

Twitter: @TobyJNichols

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TJNichols.author

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cO-YRz

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/TJ-Nichols/e/B01B463R6W

Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tj-nichols

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14669076.T_J_Nichols

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tjnichols.author/

Blurb:

Mytho: Book One

Police officer Jordan and dragon shifter Edra might have to work together, but they don’t trust each other—even if sparks do fly between them.

If anyone finds out Jordan’s a mytho sympathizer, it could kill his career. No one can know that he frequents the satyr dens and uses the drug Bliss. Another satyr overdose might not get much attention, but two dead humans? That shouldn’t be possible.

And it might not be an accident.

Edra, Mythological Services Liaison, has been covering up mytho crimes to protect the community’s reputation. With a mayoral election looming, the last thing his people need is a scandal.

To get a murderer off the streets, Jordan and Edra will be spending a lot of time together, and it won’t be easy to keep up with their deceptions… or to keep resisting each other.

Review Tour – – Kiss Me, Daddy (Kinky In The City: Club 83 #1) by Quinn Ward

3

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link – Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited
 
Length: 70,000 words approx.
 
Blurb
 

Andy’s a recent college graduate with a mountain of debt and a load of regret over earning a degree he’ll never use. When he takes a job at a local gay bar, he doesn’t expect the first person to catch his eye to be the man he’s been dreaming about since a chance encounter.


Joshua’s comfortable in his life. He has an amazing son who’s wise beyond his years, an ex-wife who’s one of his best friends, and a great job. Now, if only those closest to him would quit hounding him to start dating again after the divorce.


Joshua finds what’s been missing with the other people he’s tried dating the first time Andy slips up and calls him Daddy. What starts as a slip of the tongue could lead to what both men really need and want.

 

Quinn writes LGBTQ romance with a kick. Their stories center around the relationship building between the characters, but also shows how compatible they are in the bedroom (or wherever else the urge strikes).


Goodreads Page
Facebook Reader Group
Email Quinn at: quinn(at)quinnwardwrites(dot)com
Website

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A MelanieM Review: No Quick Fix (Torus Intercession #1) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

A retired SEAL is about to face his toughest assignment yet. As a nanny…

Fixer. Bodyguard. Advocate. Brann Calder is expected to play all these roles and more as a member of Torus Intercession, a security firm guaranteed to right what’s wrong. In the military, catastrophe was his specialty. Five months out of the service, Brann is still finding his way, so a new assignment might be just what he needs. Unless it includes two things sure to make a seasoned, battle-trained veteran nervous: life in a small town, and playing caretaker to two little girls.

Emery Dodd is drowning in the responsibility of single fatherhood. He’s picked up the pieces after losing his wife and is ready to move on now, hopeful that his engagement to a local patriarch’s daughter will not only enrich his community but will grant his daughters some stability too.

The only thing standing in Emery’s way is that he can’t he seem to keep his eyes—and hands—off the former soldier he’s hired to watch his girls until the wedding.

Emery’s future is riding on his upcoming nuptials, but being with Brann makes him and his family feel whole again. Too bad there’s no way for them to be together.

Or is there?

No Quick Fix (Torus Intercession #1) is the quintessential Mary Calmes story. It has all the elements I love about her stories and characters, including the main character.    I can sit back, giggle over the dialog (always snapping smart, cute, and connectible) and just sink into the romance that I know is about to happen.  Plus the kids, great wonderful kids.  And a dog named Winston.  Ok, that did it upteen times over.

Brann Calder is Mary Calmes’ archetype hero.  He’s gorgeous, great at everything he does, kids and animals adore him (so do readers), he has a bruised heart wanting recovery and needs someone to love him. And a home.  Here the author dumps him into a job that will give him all three if everything works out…which of course they will eventually.  Because with a Calmes book it’s the journey to the end we know that’s coming.  How will they get there?

And who does it involve?

In this case (well, it’s not unusual with her novels) it takes a small town or village, all of whom we get to know.  From the women of the baseball team, to the captain of the Vol Fire Department, the people at the dinner and bakery, and the Veterinarian’s, we get to meet and like or love them all.  And they in turn love Brann, take him right to heart.

But before that?  It’s a family that is in sore need of a change of direction and heart. Emery Dodd and his two daughters (and one Westie) have several problems.  One the loss of a mother and wife that still haunts the family.  Two, Emery has agreed to a business arranged marriage for the betterment of the town and his family, whether they like it or not.  And nothing should stand in the way of that marriage going forward so perhaps a bodyguard is needed. Enter Brann Calder and an explosion of possibilities and fireworks.

If you are not familiar with how the classic Calmes main character acts, than watching Calder “superhero” his way through the town almost on day one will engender more than a few eyerolls.   But if you’re a lover of Jory and Sam, a reader of Frog, or Timing, or Marshals or I could keep going, then you know that’s the classic Calmes main man in action.  And we love him and her for it.

Because as he’s performing all these acts of bravery or compassion or whatever they may be, he’s also learning that he’s been missing out on something in his life and now it’s staring him in the face at every level, furred (dog), child, and man.  And a town that clearly needs him.

I’m so hooked every time.  From the moment he tiredly exits a car and ends up staring into a child’s daunting glare.  I’m there with him, especially as he meets that challenge and heads into the next, cuss words and all.  He had me at “shit”.  And “awesome”.

Love that whole family.

Wow, I’m torn between wanting more of Brann and this town and more of the other men in the Torus group who clearly need their own HEA.  Mary, can’t I have both? lol

And yes, I highly recommend this story and the author.  When I have need of a comfort read, a hero and a romance, Mary Calmes’ stories have often saved the day.  Adding another now.

Cover art: Reese Dante.  Yes, that is Brann Calder to the core. Love it.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 289 pages
Published March 19th 2019
ASINB07PLJ65NT
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesTorus Intercession #1