Category: Contemporary fiction

Review: Forbidden Lover (Exit Strategy #4) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 3.5🌈

Forbidden Lover has its beginnings in Final Lover, Justin Mallory and Gabriel Prescott’s “put a ring on it”storyline. That’s the book that solidified their romance into a HEA by slipping them into a mission that sees them protecting a man and his young son from a mistaken hit contract.

The assassin who took the bad contract was Kai , an old acquaintance of Gabriel’s, and someone Gabe knew would never kill a child. It stopped Kai once he knew the information was bad and then he helped them protect the man and son. Yes, there was definitely chemistry involved but it was just a wisp and gone.

Here all the dropped parts from that book that pertained to the father ,Devlin Relic and son , get picked up and woven into a new adventure and romance.

This time between Devlin and Kai.

As much as I liked the character of Kai, what makes the series work is the development of the relationship between the two characters of Justin and Gabriel over a period of time, especially with the differences in personalities. Here Kai is lacking all that history and groundwork, even with his introduction in the last book, to give him a larger dimension to his character.

It makes the drama with the villain just a bit confusing, even coming off as a forced storyline because we have nothing to frame it around.

I liked Devlin and his son, the father/son dynamics feeling more realistic than the fact that Devlin might be any sort of brilliant scientist. No one is that naive anymore, especially about other members of their scientific community. Nice character, not realistic enough for the field.

So I was entertained. It’s not my favorite in the series. Feels like more of a filler story than a actual part. Maybe people were asking for it because of Kai from Final Lover.

Read it to finish the series, or because you’re curious about that character. It’s a fun book but not necessarily a great one.

The series should be read in the order that they were written to understand the character development and events that happened.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

✓ Final Lover #3

✓ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Buy Link :

Forbidden Lover (Exit Strategy Book 4)

Description:

Devlin Relic was off limits.

The sweet man had already lost a husband and nearly lost his life when someone put a contract on his head last year.

He needed to focus on raising his adopted son and finding a nice, normal man.

Kai was anything but nice and normal.

He was an assassin, and that did not fit into Dev’s neat and tidy life.

But when a dead body mysteriously appears in Dev’s bathtub, it looks like an assassin is exactly what he needs.

Maybe this time Kai will be brave enough to fight for Devlin and finally put his exit strategy to use.

Review: Final Lover (Exit Strategy #3) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.75🌈

Final Lover while only being the third book in the series really puts the finishing touches on the romance of Justin Mallory and Gabriel Prescott. Now semi-retired and living in the high security house of their dreams in Colorado with their two cats and two German Shepherds, things should be easy.

But with the damaged pasts, high adrenaline needs for excitement or just something to keep a unusually intense mind occupied, both men are wondering what’s next for them. How do they get a HEA? Is it even possible?

A slide into a case involving a targeted man and young son on the run, an old acquaintance of Gabriel’s, and a mystery that will form the basis of the next book and relationship, Forbidden Lover #4. That’s an entirely new couple and dynamic.

Drake does such an excellent job creating a believable portrait of an established relationship that’s still got issues to solve, factors that each person must consider and communicate to their partner. Even among the assassins/mercenaries, whatever the job title they have at the moment. It’s still a fully developed adult relationship, with the requisite trust and commitment issues. And Drake brings that to their table every time.

The mystery, the new assassin Kai, the vulnerable father and son, even the GSDs and Norwegian Forest cats, are fantastic characters and support elements.

This is wonderful entertainment and a fast paced story to dive into and devour.

As is the series.

The next two books find Justin and Gabriel acting in secondary roles so enjoy them in their Final Lover fashion!

I’m highly recommending it.

The series should be read in the order that they were written to understand the character development and events that happened.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

✓ Final Lover #3

✓ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Buy Link:

Final Lover (Exit Strategy Book 3)

Description:

Two assassins meet, don’t kill each other, and fall in love.

It’s happily ever after, right?

Not so fast.

Reformed mercenaries Justin Mallory and Gabriel Prescott have taken the big leap of living together. They’re even working together.

But “one last job” has them taking a falsely accused man and his young son into their home for safe keeping.

While dodging bullets and fellow hitmen out for the $27 million bounty, Justin and his G Love realize that falling in love was the easy part. Building a life together might be more than they bargained for.

Join Justin and Gabriel for their final adventure as they protect an innocent man and uncover the missing piece to their forever.

Review: Double or Nothing (Double Trouble #1) by Cari Z and L.A. Witt

Rating: 4🌈

Double or Nothing is an exciting start to a new series about Hacker Leotrim Nicolosi and Deputy Marshal Rich Cody.

A quick read, full of great action scenes and some wonderful characters, I was throughly entertained by the story and committed to the romance as it evolved between two damaged men from different worlds.

Deputy Marshal Rich Cody is a newly appointed Marshal who’s fighting his own battles with his military past. That’s his PTSD from his missions abroad. He’s currently on assignment to guard a criminal hacker Leotrim Nicolosi. Hacker Leotrim is to testify if the crime family doesn’t take him out first.

From a Marshal WITSEC assignment which goes really wrong fast, we get a highly detailed, very exciting fast paced action story. It’s two enemy to lovers against everyone romance. And you just want a big bag of popcorn, drink of choice and to be left alone to read until it’s over.

I love the characters, their romance is just got enough barriers and drama to be interesting and emotional, and the intrigue is top notch.

It carries over to a second story which ends the 2-part series. I’m recommending it and heading there now for the end of the story.

Double Trouble series:

✓ Double or Nothing #1

◦ Doubling Down #2

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showDouble or Nothing (Double Trouble #1) by Cari Z.

Description:

Rich Cody joined the U.S. Marshals to hunt down bad guys, not babysit witnesses. Orders are orders, though, and now he’s protecting a hacker with ties to the Albanian and Sicilian mobs. It’s just another exciting day in WITSEC.

Leotrim Nicolosi was born into a world of crime and bloodshed. When that bloodshed hits too close to home, taking down Leo’s boyfriend—the son of a notorious mob boss—Leo is determined to destroy the Grimaldi family. He’s got evidence that will send every last Grimaldi to prison, he’s got the family’s wealth in an electronic chokehold, and he’s got a vendetta that can only be settled with the blood of the man who killed his lover.

When a routine transfer to a safehouse goes horribly wrong, Rich and Leo narrowly escape with their lives.

With the Marshals compromised and Leo being framed for murder, he and Rich are on the run from criminals and law enforcement alike. They have no one to trust except each other, and nowhere to go that their enemies can’t reach.And the only way out might mean making a deal with the Devil.

Review: Giles Ashby Needs A Nanny: Nannies of New York Book 2 by K. Sterling

Rating: 5🌈

Nannies of New York is such an excellent series and it’s just on book two.

Resplendent with the vivacious feel and 24 hour vibe of New York City, this series moves from uptown to downtown with the nannies and their families, with their broken hearts to the children and men who need mending.

I adore them so.

Giles Ashby Needs A Nanny is a special kind of story. The nanny who in question is Riley Fitzgerald. With a terrible history of getting his heart broken (he calls it the curse), he’s a great person with a huge love for family and children, a former theater nerd with a way with families and organization.

Giles Ashby is the author’s heart and soul here. As related in the Forward, Giles’ anxiety and panic disorder, his mental illness, therapy and drug treatment all are derived directly from the author’s own experiences. It shows. Both the sensitive and believable manner in how Giles has lived his entire life and how he now lives, with therapy, with his son, in relation to others. It’s a masterpiece of a character. In fact , the author’s depiction of the character’s issues and his issues with interpersonal relationships carries directly over into the equally compelling character of Riley.

Riley is a strong character who works so well within the relationship dynamics. Not only in understanding the swampy emotional nature of their past misunderstandings as young children (yes they have a history) but in navigating through the new tangled one that includes a highly intelligent young boy who’s so amazing. Again, Milo is an endearing young man and realistic person in his own right. Milo, who has his own issues, has needs that Riley has to be aware of and take care of as well as a man Riley is now beginning to see through new eyes.

This story has so many aspects to it that I admire. A unique and strong family for the Ashbys which includes not only the ex-wife who’s a constant loving presence for son and ex-husband, but also his ex-SIL and her son. There’s an enormous support system and family here that’s amazing to meet and get connected with.

The city as usual works as a glorious support characters and foundation as this romance unfolds, with the other nannies acting as Riley’s mentors and emotional advisers.

The characters are incredibly well written, the storylines superbly executed, and the ending a well crafted HEA. It will leave you feeling happy and satisfied.

So yes, if you’re a lover of contemporary romance, this is a series you should definitely check out!

Read them in the order they are written.

Nannies of New York series:

🔷The Last Nanny In Manhattan #1

🔷Giles Ashby Needs A Nanny #2

🔷The Handy Nanny #3 – April 27,2023

Buy Link:

Giles Ashby Needs A Nanny: Nannies of New York Book 2

Description:

Sometimes, a simple field trip to the planetarium can be an act of bravery. In Giles Ashby’s case, it could also be a second chance with his lifelong crush.

Unbearably awkward and strangled by his anxiety disorder, Giles used surly snarls and abrupt remarks to keep everyone at a distance. As a result and surprising no one, he finds himself divorced and overwhelmed by the demands of parenting nine-year-old Milo —a shy, awkward clone of his father. Not wanting Milo to struggle through life the way he has, Giles enlists the help of Reid Marshall’s new nanny agency.

Of all the nannies in Manhattan… Reid had to send Giles’s childhood crush, Riley Fitzgerald. Still smitten and as flustered as he was in middle school, Giles bungles every encounter with the “new” nanny. But sweet, clever, outgoing Riley is exactly what Milo needs.

Riley thinks he knows what he’s getting into when he accepts a position working for his childhood nemesis, but Milo steals his heart the moment they meet. And “Giles the Jerk” isn’t as bad as Riley remembers. Or maybe Giles was never really all that bad… Riley finds himself swooning as Giles faces his fears in order to help Milo survive the fourth grade and win the science fair.

But can Riley really trust his heart, when all his past relationships have been cursed? Could this time be any different?

Review: Vengeful Lover: Special Edition (Exit Strategy #2) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.75🌈

Picking up after the events of Deadly Lover, Vengeful Lover has assassin Justin Mallory chasing after his new lover, fellow assassin, Gabriel Prescott. Gabriel left at the end of Deadly Lover, promising to return to start their new life after finishing up his own personal loose ends.

The story dives immediately into a all out fight for their new relationship, a journey into Gabriel’s traumatic history and his dangerous family dynamics.

With all the suspense and high action, Drake’s story builds upon the homophobia inherent in certain Russian cultures and it’s tragic impact upon the community. In this case, the children.

It’s a theme revisited in a future book and continued thread within Gabriel’s character.

I throughly enjoyed the book and the deepening relationship between Gabriel and Justin. It’s not a finished story here and they still have much more work left to do on their own relationship as they continue to grow into their new home and partnership.

Btw, this story introduces two important characters, neither of which I’ll giveaway. But their entrance is dramatic and emotional.

The next book, Final Lover , is a grand slam.

I’m highly recommending this series and book. Please read them in order for the characters, relationships and events chronologically to occur.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

✓ Final Lover #3

✓ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Vengeful Lover (Exit Strategy Book 2)

Description:

Every assassin has an exit strategy – their ultimate plan for leaving that dangerous life and disappearing.

They just never expect to live long enough to enact it.

Gabriel Prescott was no different.

But everything changed when he met fellow mercenary Justin Mallory.

Now he’s racing across Europe with Justin to put to rest old threats before they can end both their lives.

Of course, it will also mean coming clean to Justin about exactly who he is and who wants him dead.

Gabriel can only hope that Justin will still want him when the truth comes out.

Review: Deadly Lover: Special Edition (Exit Strategy #1) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.5🌈

Deadly Lover is my second book that I “backtracked” to when I discovered the couple in the course of reading a sequel series, Shadow Elite.

This couple, now “semi-retired”, are deadly assassins who are uncles to Alexei, an assassin as well and lover of Soren. They’re both infamous and family due to their roles and now new connections so they certainly pop up during missions or gatherings.

It didn’t take long for them to become a couple I seriously wanted a history for.

Deadly Lover begins their journey. It’s where they meet, begin a tenuous understanding of each other and start a relationship that teeters between a frightening friendship and something more fragile.

All while chasing a mystery and in turn finding themselves prey in a game where it’s billions of dollars and lives at stake.

Drake takes a chance with the dynamics here and tilts the revelations being delivered all on the side of assassin Gabriel Prescott. A deeply haunted, damaged man, the trauma of his past makes itself known by his scars, his arrays of tattoos, and his PTSD. All of which will be addressed as part of his character’s thread as the series progresses.

The character of Justin Mallory is more of an enigma. As the relationship between the men develops and the trust of their true selves becomes a final test, it’s Justin who’s that last one with the barriers raised. He’s fluid and yet he’s got a strong core. So you get him and can connect with him without having any history or knowledge about him.

This dichotomy between the main characters surprisingly works because our focus is on Gabriel, his emotional damage and trauma, while maneuvering the reader away from the narrative void that is Justin Mallory’s history and foundation.

It makes you wonder what’s coming.

The path they are on is halting, uncertain, and dangerous. The author never lets us or them forget that either.

The book ends not even on a HFN which is realistic. But on a we are going to try to make it work.

The next novel picks up several months later. It’s quite the transition.

Review coming soon.

I’m most definitely recommending this series. And Deadly Love. It’s well written. Great plotting, with a fascinating framework for the characters and relationship growth going forward. Full of exciting action and dialogue to pull you into the conversation, it’s a win all around.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

◦ Final Lover #3

◦ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Deadly Lover: Special Edition (Exit Strategy Book 1)

Description:

New Expanded Content for Deadly Lover!

Justin Mallory is an assassin. But he’s really a good guy.

He has years of bad decisions to make up for, starting with agreeing to join the CIA after being recruited out of the Marines. No reason to add more black marks to his soul.

Now he chooses the jobs and he works always alone. It’s safer that way, and he can make sure the good guy always wins.

But this job…he can’t do alone.

Two scientists are dead and a dangerous drug is on the cusp of winning FDA approval if he doesn’t track down the culprit behind the lies and murders.

Gabriel Prescott is a well-trained, efficient, and cold-blooded killer. After a brutal betrayal left his lover dead, Gabriel is out only for himself.

But when this lucrative contract lands in his lap, he can’t pass it up. Even if it means working with the unpredictable and insane Justin Mallory.

Dodging bullets and secret meetings force them to depend on each other.

And one hot, frantic night together leads to a hidden sweetness and questions of whether they could possibly have something more.

Author’s Note: As a gift to readers, I have expanded the original Deadly Lover by nearly 20,000 words, giving readers a deeper understanding of Justin and Gabriel. Furthermore, I have added the short story Lover Calling to the special edition so you can enjoy even more of these fun assassins.

Review: Accidental Lover (Exit Strategy #5) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.5🌈

Alexei Prescott , assassin and nephew of assassins extraordinaire, has a target. Gabor Kalman, shady arms dealer.

Soren Jessen, cat burglar, ex CIA, has a target. Gabor Kalman, shady arms dealer.

One will kill him, the other will steal from him. At the same time. The mission puts both men on a collision course to unravel labyrinthine mysteries that center around a stolen hard drive while keeping each other alive and able to fall into mad passionate love.

This is one of those stories I backtracked into. Soren and his assassin lover, Alexei, are important characters in Drake’s Shadow Elite series. They’re a fascinating and eclectic couple. So naturally when I learned that they had their own story, I needed to read it. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The last of a series (which had me backtracking even further), Accidental Lover not only gives us the complete window in Soren, the man who just happens to be a cat burglar now, but the complicated personality that makes that career so understandable.

The story also gives us an astonishing assassin in the person of Alexei Prescott. A diminutive gorgeous killer who has been raised by two of the world’s most notorious assassins, Alexei is as fascinating a character as the man he’s coming to love.

A thriller of a suspenseful romance, equally intriguing with snarky humor and lusty chemistry, Accidental Lover was a book I couldn’t put down.

Plus it ket me know that those scary assassins, Justin and Gabriel, Alexei’s uncles, were actually the main focus of the Exit Strategy series so I could happily backtrack once more for their origin story and romance.

I’m highly recommending this story and onto the first one in the series.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

◦ Final Lover #3

◦ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Related/sequel series: Shadow Elite books

Accidental Lover (Exit Strategy Book 5)

Description:

Rule No. 1 of being an assassin: Don’t sleep with your mark.

Eh. Alexei has never been big on rules.

It’s not his fault Soren is too sexy for words.

And it’s not like he knew Soren was the cat burglar he’d been hired to kill.

But as they dodge other assassins, the CIA, and even the Russians to keep Soren alive and a stolen hard drive out of their hands, Alexei might be in even greater danger of breaking

Rule No. 2.

Never fall for your mark.

Review: A Christmas Outing: A Veterans Affairs Story by A.E. Wasp

Rating: 3.25🌈

A Christmas Outing is a wonderful heartwarming holiday story whose narrative gifts are tarnished by the errors and mistakes that are found inside.

Continuity issues, once again, thy name is A Veterans Affairs. The most striking example is Troy’s best friend growing up, Leo. A closeted gay himself, it was his death that pushed Troy out of the closet and onto a new path. Hugely important.

So it would have to be a factor that’s a major aspect of Troy’s life and storylines. You would expect zero variation. Incoming, the first novel, has its version being that Leo was shot to death by a hookup in a gas station because he’s afraid to be seen in a gay bar.

Written as an epilogue to that story but released separately (same time frame), A Christmas Outing: A Veterans Affairs Story has Leo dying as a result of being beaten to death by homophobes.

To use the vernacular, I can’t even.

Troy’s West Virginia large family of Methodists becomes ethnically distinctly Italian Catholic, with some surprising side trips.

There’s so many elements that are mentioned and discussed superficially. A gay conversion camp and therapy, a gay cousin, a rescue, a PSTD episode that’s quickly dealt with, a hidden relationship, a coming out, a service dog and her duties, a gay partner who’s not religious. I’m sure I’m leaving out some. Bigotry.

All at Christmas. So heartwarming.

The fact that the Christmas card decorations and big Italian Catholic families are supposed to make up for the lost depth and glossing over of some of the very tough topics raised is in a manner a surface treatment used by families to make them feel better about themselves and issues they would rather not face.

It ends typically with a happy ending for the couple, one not shared with those around them. Big surprise.

There’s a couple more books in this series that are focused around another couple that lives in the same small town of Red Deer, Colorado.

Not entirely sure I’m continuing. It’s interesting but I have more books in 2023 on my list to finish first.

A Christmas Outing: A Veterans Affairs Story

******

Books in the Veterans Affairs Series

Incoming – Troy & Dmitri novel
A Christmas Outing – Troy & Dmitri novella

Paper Hearts – Mikey & Benny novel
Paper Roses – Mikey & Benny novella

Bronze Star – Jay-Cee & Chris novel

Description:

Troy and Dmitri have worked everything out – well, almost everything. Except for the part where Troy’s family doesn’t know Dmitri exists. Coming out to his family sounds scarier than going to war. And Troy would know.

Troy’s been out of the Army for almost a year, and except for a few short weeks, hasn’t been back to West Virginia at all. Now it’s Christmas and if he doesn’t go, he’ll break his momma’s heart. Trouble is, Troy’s afraid that going home with a boyfriend and service dog in tow will break his Momma’s heart just as much.

Review: Incoming : A Veterans Affair Novel by A.E. Wasp

Rating: 3.5🌈

Incoming, the beginning of Wasp’s Veterans Affairs series, is a terrific book marred by poor editing and continuity issues, things that unfortunately continue into the next story, Christmas Outing.

Released in 2016, it dates itself with elements that I regard fondly. Music, a car with actual paper road maps in the passenger seat, be still my heart. And while I’d like to chalk up the editing errors, that for some readers might send this novel flying across the room, to inadequate technology at the time, I suspect that’s just not the case.

Most of the glaring mistakes concern switching important names sometimes within paragraphs. Whether it’s between the main characters or even towards the end, the adorable but vastly different canine characters, it occurs often and throughout the story.

How does an author not have noticed something so major that it takes a reader out of the narrative because they are trying to make sense of who’s talking? Or a canine acting out of character? A super intelligent border collie who’s lived in the house for years can’t figure out a door while the new recently ill dog is racing towards a ball already in the backyard. Uh no. Pls edit.

It’s a shame because the core story and the characters are quite wonderful. Especially Troy Johnson, ex Army, who’s issues include untreated PTSD, the stress of being a closeted gay man to his religious family in WV, and internalizing all the pain, suffering, and loss of his recent campaigns in Afghanistan. Troy is so beautifully written and painfully detailed a person who’s trying to figure out a new life and not quite succeeding.

Less immediately likable but just as realistic is Dimitri, a research veterinarian* (because he couldn’t stand to cause animals/their owners pain) who’s let his fears of pain overwhelm him to the extent he’s walled himself off emotionally and physically from life, except for his best friend. He’s more than a bit self absorbed, a tad cowardly, and reactionary. Unrealistic. How did the author explain him getting through vet school?

Did I believe in him? Yes, sort of. In a where did his degree come from kinda way. Did I like him? Hmmm, maybe. More so as I started to see the men together. It was their dynamic and relationship that sold me , as well as his relationships with his best friend, Sugar, that connected me with Dmitri.

Excellent work with his less than stellar personality and character growth.But his profession needs work.

The characters that support them are amazing. Whether it’s the bar owner, Vincent, a vet himself, and the best friend, Angel. The dogs too, like Sweetie the service dog and Dmitri’s border collie, Moby.

So read the this book and it’s companion, A Christmas Outing, a sort of epilogue to this couple’s relationship, if you’re a fan of the author’s and extremely tolerant of editing errors and continuity mistakes.

However, if those things are book stoppers for you, I’d suggest you skip these. Not even the diminutive shortcut for Dmitri remains the same throughout the novel. SMH.

*some scientific researchers do tend to use animals in their experiments so I do wonder how much research herself Wasp did here. Just a thought.

Books in the Veterans Affairs Series

Incoming – Troy & Dmitri novel
A Christmas Outing – Troy & Dmitri novella

Paper Hearts – Mikey & Benny novel
Paper Roses – Mikey & Benny novella

Bronze Star – Jay-Cee & Chris novel

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showIncoming (Veterans Affairs, #1) by A.E. Wasp

Description:

A veteran and a veteranarian walk into a bar.

Army veteran Troy is everything Dmitri’s ever wanted in a guy: gorgeous, smart, and funny. He likes dogs, he has the sexiest trace of an accent, and his kisses set off fireworks in Dmitri’s entire body. Too bad Troy is looking to stay in Red Deer Dmitri is getting the hell out of this small town as soon as he can.

Still, they might be able to work it out, but Troy has secrets he won’t tell, and the demons he’s running from are hot on his heels. When sparks fly on a hot Fourth of July weekend, both men find that the past is not easily left behind, and the future is never as clear as you hope.

Review: Foxed by Jay Hogan

Rating: 3🌈

Foxed, Fuddled, Swallowed a Hare, and Other Words for “Drunk”.

Right from the title, Jay Hogan’s new release and I just couldn’t connect.

For me, foxed always has meant drunk. Hogan goes with a different definition.

FOXED: To be thrown into a state of uncertainty-flustered, bamboozled, bewildered, puzzled, vexed.

That’s how I felt about the book. As if the author and I were in different places here. Same place but different perspectives.

I normally enjoy Hogan’s work and was eagerly waiting on this novel with its older couple, the Wellington location, and some of the elements I’d heard of. But my disappointment with the characters and detachment started immediately.

Jed Marshall is discussing Harrison Ford with Nash Collingwood over lunch. During the conversation about his Star Wars movies gets dismissed because it’s just “sh**ty SciFi”.

Trust me, the book almost went down there.

But the really problematic issues, and they are many in my opinion, have to do with his character, and his family.

While Nash Collingwood is a well rounded, and layered personality with depth to his character, Jed feels almost ephemeral.

His family is homophobic, intrusive, controlling, and unable to respect boundaries. He’s unable to set boundaries, communicate, and stand up for himself. He’s in his fifties. He’s basically got the t-shirt that reads doormat.

He’s a bisexual man who’s hidden that part of himself from everyone but his ex-wife. When given the chance to tell his friends and family repeatedly that he’s in a new relationship, he lies about it. Setting up a dramatic explosion of emotions to come.

I’m left to feel bad for Nash who’s put his heart out there, after a bad experience,into the hands of a man who teeters between running away from any reasonable expectation of commitment because of his fears and his own inability to handle his family.

The ending, which was rushed a week timeline wise after the emotional explosions went off, felt simplified and unrealistic.

In all, this just wasn’t the book or couple for me. From my perspective, Jed was never someone I was going to respect so I felt disconnected from his story. The characters and the relationship was not realistic in its resolution.

I’m sure others won’t see it this way and have a different viewpoint on their romance.

But for me I’m setting my sights on the next Hogan release.

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Foxed-J…Foxed – Kindle edition by Hogan, Jay . Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks …

https://www.amazon.com › Foxed-J…Foxed – Hogan, Jay: Books

FOXED: To be thrown into a state of uncertainty-flustered, bamboozled, bewildered, puzzled, vexed.

AKA, me. Jed Marshall. 55-year-old successful classic car mechanic; divorced, mostly closeted, and whose wholly inexperienced bisexuality has suddenly awakened after one smouldering look and said, ‘Damn, who’s the hottie?’ Or words to that effect.

Cue, Nash Collingwood. 53-year-old scarily smart high school principal; out, gay, confident, and sexy as hell. He’s also my daughter’s boss. So, not complicated at all, right? Nash could ignite a bonfire with a single sultry look, comes fully accessorised with a charm offensive Churchill would be proud of, an easy-going flattery that thrills my heart far too effortlessly, and an impressive track record with men many decades my junior.

In short, Nash is everything I’m not, and everything I’ve avoided for roughly my entire life. He’s the hot rod to my sensible family car, that is if you like your family cars with a few dents, creaky suspension, unexpected backfires, and a dodgy stick.

The last thing I need is a relationship-especially with a man. I buried that pipe dream a long time ago and a little loneliness is a small price to pay. The festive season and long summer vacation are on our doorstep. I’m finally getting things right with my family who mean everything to me, and I don’t want to mess that up.

But Nash doesn’t care about my awkward inexperience, or clumsy excuses, or any of my insecurities. Nash only sees me. He wants me. For the first time in years, I feel alive and sexy and a whole lot more than just a good father and grandfather.

I should walk away, but the closer Nash and I become, the more he fills my grey world with colour, and the promise of a second chance at love I never thought possible.