Review: It’s Complicated (Tucker Springs #7) by L.A. Witt

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Brad Sweeney and Jeff Hayden, after much soul searching and separations, have finally decided to give their relationship another try. Now living apart, they have just had their first date on the path to a newer, more healthy future and things look promising. Then Jeff gets a call from his ex wife and business partner that will change everything. She says she’s pregnant and that Jeff is the father. One late booze fueled hookup while Brad and Jeff were separated results in a pregnancy that threatens Brad and Jeff’s relationship on every level.

Brad has always feared that Jeff would leave him for a wife and kids and now his worst nightmare seems to be coming true. Brad has never felt like a priority to Jeff because of the time Jeff spends on his business. Now with a child on the way, what time will Jeff have left for him and their relationship?

For Jeff, his carefully created plans for getting back together with Brad are falling to pieces. Even worse is the announcement from his ex wife that she will be leaving Tucker Springs and returning to Denver with their child. If he wants to be a part of the baby’s life, and he does, he will have to somehow juggle her part of their business while traveling to Denver to see their child. Or move everything to Denver, including himself. Neither plan seems reasonable or even possible if his and Brad’s reconciliation is to work.

Everything has gotten so complicated. What happens when sometimes not even love is enough to hold a couple together?

It’s Complicated explores the decision that separated couple Brad Sweeney and Jeff Hayden, friends of Nathan, made at the end of After the Fall (Tucker Springs #6). In After the Fall, Nathan listens to the problems Brad is having with his relationship with Jeff and it impacts Nathan’s rationale about the events occuring in his own romance. It’s a secondary element but we gather that the constant fighting between Jeff and Brad has caused them to separate after years together. By the end of the story, Jeff and Brad have decided that their love is deep enough that it merits one last effort to stay together and that’s where It’s Complicated starts. And its also where it almost immediately starts to fall apart again.

This conflicted and deeply in love couple have just gone on their first date towards a new healthier relationship, It went well even with both of them on their best behavior and ended up in bed at the end of the night. Jeff and Brad’s sex life has always been fantastic, its everywhere else in their relationship that the couple has problems. Most readers, no matter their current romantic status, can relate to this couple because they have been there or know people who have. The stress, the communication problems, the prioritizing of time between business and family and above all the insecurities…these are issues that plague many a modern couple. And from the caustic comments and arguing to the tentative steps back towards each other, L.A. Witt’s couple travels a realistic and well worn path.

Tucker Springs and its inhabitants have a way of growing on you as you travel through each of the Tucker Springs couples stories. People pass in and out of each others lives much as you would do in any small town. And whether or not they are germane to the story at hand, the reader absentmindedly takes note of who and what is trying to get together or who needs a new romance in their lives because we know they are sure to surface later on in the series. So I was prepared to meet up with Brad and Jeff to see what had happened since After the Fall and the answer is nothing less than a couple melting down under the pressure and stress of their lives and not knowing how climb out of their relationship rut.

Every bit of dialog, every painful argument and painful silence feels authentic. L.A. Witt knows how to write relationships and real people in trouble. It feels every inch as stressful and sad as a couple who you happen to be acquainted with would look if they weren’t going to make it. You feel extraordinarily bad for them, wish you could help them in some way and you would hope for the best. I just am not sure you would want to be there for the daily struggle, the disheartening conversations and the hair pulling when nothing else is working. Only your affection for this couple will keep you reading through the mess they have made of their relationship and their own personal well being.

I do like that Jeff’s ex wife is not made out to be a cardboard villain here. She has her excellent reasons for moving away from Tucker Springs and yes, she wants her family back together. All reasonsible, all very realistic. Jeff too is believably human. He is being pulled in every direction by his obligations, his wants and desires as well as the people he loves. Did I want to give him a shake every now and again? Sure, but you could relate to Jeff as he tries to balance things in his life too weighty to be neatly boxed up and compartmentalized. It doesn’t work and he ends up paying for it.

And then there is Brad, everyone’s last priority, even for himself. Brad has finally realized that he deserves more but what he wants is Brad, a conundrum to be sure given the current circumstances and overwhelming issues. Here is a character who cries out for your compassion and gets it. His is the character most people will relate to as he questions just how much he is going to endure to keep Jeff in his life. He asks the toughest questions here. And Jeff’s answers to those are sometimes problematic, making Jeff a less than sympathetic character. The angst swirls mightily here as does the love. But do you really want to be in the middle of it? That’s a question each reader will have to ask for themselves because there is some truly heartbreaking aspects to this story.

What pulled it all together for me and made this a read to recommend? In addition to the wonderful writing and characters? That would be the Epilogue. L.A. Witt’s epilogue does what every great epilogue should, Pull together the final story elements and let the reader in on how it all turned out. It is here that many of the satisfying and happy parts of Brad and Jeff’s relationship that I wanted to see earlier in the story are displayed. Where all we had before was strain and unhappiness, now we get to see why they were so great together and what made them a couple worth saving. And it was after reading the Epilogue that I could then go back and reread parts of the story with a new perspective that gave me a great appreciation for this couple and their story. It made everything work and let me enjoy the re-coupling of two more of Tucker Springs uncoupled inhabitants. Tucker Springs is a wonderful series and this story is just one more example why.

Cover art by LC Chase is gorgeous and pertinent for this story and series.

Book Details:

ebook, 196 pages
Expected publication: April 28th 2014 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626491342
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/its-complicated
seriesTucker Springs #7

Buy ARe Amazon Riptide Publishing

Here are the stories in the Tucker Springs series in the order they were written, and is recommended that they be read:

Where Nerves End (Tucker Springs, #1) by L.A. Witt
Second Hand (Tucker Springs, #2) by Heidi Cullinan
Dirty Laundry (Tucker Springs, #3) by Heidi Cullinan
Covet Thy Neighbor (Tucker Springs, #4) by L.A. Witt
Never a Hero (Tucker Springs, #5) by Marie Sexton
After The Fall (Tucker Springs #6) by L.A. Witt
It’s Complicated (Tucker Springs #7) by L.A. Witt

Return to Tucker Springs with L.A. Witt’s It’s Complicated Book Tour (contest)

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ItsComplicated_TourBanner

Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/L. A. Witt blog tour for Tucker Springs #7, It’s Complicated!

Contest: Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of one ebook off my backlist (excluding It’s Complicated) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern Time, on May 4th, and winners will be announced on May 5th. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Rafflecopter Drawing.

***L.A. Witt:

So what is Jeff’s relationship with his ex-wife?

As you’ve likely gathered from the blurb for It’s Complicated, Jeff and his ex-wife are, shall we say, amicable. They run a business together. And, thanks to an impulsive moment while Jeff thought he and Brad were done forever, they’re having a baby together.

A lot of readers have asked what kind of relationship they have. Is this a ménage? Is Jeff considering going back to his ex-wife? Did he cheat on Brad? Are there male/female sex scenes in this book?

The simple answer to all three of those is No.

So, here’s a little excerpt to shed some light on how Brad and Jeff both feel about the situation, and about what happened in the first place:

****
“It’s . . . a lot to process.” I took another drink. “What about you?”

Brad lifted his head. “What?”

“How do you feel about all this?”

“Does it matter?” He half shrugged. “It’s happening whether I like it or not.” The venomous undertone was subtle, but it was definitely there.

I fought the urge to reach for his arm. “It matters to me.”

His eyes narrowed. I cringed inwardly, bracing for whatever snide comment was on the tip of his tongue.

Then Brad squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, I just . . . I have to know. Aside from the obvious”—he lowered his hand and looked straight at me—“how exactly did this happen?”

I blew out a breath. “How, or when?”

He cocked his head slightly and reached for his beer. “Both, now that you mention it.”

“It was while you and I had broken up completely. Just so we’re clear on that.”

“Okay.” If that was a relief, he didn’t let it show. I didn’t know if he thought I’d cheated on him or what, but he was keeping his cards close to his vest tonight. “So, what happened?”

“Do you really want the gory details?”

“Not the details, no.” He shifted in his chair. “I guess I’m just wondering how you guys went from . . .”

“From business partners to getting into bed together?”

Brad flinched. “Basically.”

I drummed my fingers on the side of my beer. “We were at work one night. It’d been, I don’t know, just a rough day for both of us. Rough week, actually. One of the engravers had fucked up a huge order, and Christine and I ended up staying until three in the damned morning to redo everything so we could still deliver it the next day.” I paused for a drink and rolled it around in my mouth as I replayed that night in my mind and tried to come up with a way to explain it.

It must have made sense at the time. Looking back now with a clear head, I couldn’t put the steps together. I couldn’t tell myself—never mind Brad—how it had happened. One minute, my ex-wife and I had been stressed and exhausted, alternately working together and sniping at each other as we tried to finish an expedited job at all hours of the night. The next, I’d had her up against the supply closet with her legs around my waist.

“Jeff?”

I swallowed the mouthful of beer. “I really can’t explain it. To be honest, it just . . . it just happened.”

He searched my eyes. “Was this the first time you guys—”

“Brad. Why are we doing this? Dissecting it isn’t going to change anything.”

“It’ll help me get my head around it.” He looked down. “I’m just . . . I’m trying to understand it. And figure out what it means for us.”

“For us?”

“Yeah.” He drained his beer. “Us versus the two of you.”

“The—” I sat up straighter. “Do you think Christine and I are going to get back together?”

His lips tightened, and his eyes dared me to tell him his worries were unwarranted.

I fought the urge to reach past our beers and take his hand. “Brad, it was a one-time thing. I can’t even explain why it happened. I guess that night, we both needed someone and . . .” I exhaled and avoided his eyes. “Maybe we were just blowing off a little steam. I don’t even know. But it’s not like that.”

“And is that going to change now that there’s a kid involved?”

I lifted my gaze. “If it was, do you think I’d be here with you?”
***

Author Bio: L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer currently living in the glamorous and ultra-futuristic metropolis of Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, two cats, and a disembodied penguin brain that communicates with her telepathically. In addition to writing smut and disturbing the locals, L.A. is said to be working with the US government to perfect a genetic modification that will allow humans to survive indefinitely on Corn Pops and beef jerky. This is all a cover, though, as her primary leisure activity is hunting down her arch nemesis, erotica author Lauren Gallagher, who is also said to be lurking somewhere in Omaha.

L. A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt). L.A. can also be found at:

Goodreads Author Page
Facebook

It’s Complicated Blurb:

After their umpteenth breakup, Brad Sweeney and Jeff Hayden are living apart and starting over from scratch. The morning after a promising first date, they’re more optimistic than ever that they can make it work this time . . . until Jeff’s ex-wife and business partner calls to announce she’s pregnant with Jeff’s baby. Brad’s already competing with a demanding business for Jeff’s time. Now there’s a baby on the way, and worse, he’s afraid Jeff is still carrying a torch for the woman who’s carrying his child.

Jeff is desperately trying to keep his life together, but before he can even get his head around the news that he’s going to be a father, his ex announces that she wants to leave Tucker Springs. Now he either has to take over her role at the shop while ferrying the baby back and forth from Denver, or move the business—and himself—with her.

Brad and Jeff knew reconciliation wouldn’t be easy, but they’re rapidly running out of room for compromise. And sooner or later, something has to give.

It’s Complicated is available April 28th from Riptide Publishing.

Book Details:

Author: L.A. Witt
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62649-134-2
eBook release: Apr 28, 2014
eBook Formats: pdf, mobi, html, epub
Print ISBN: 978-1-62649-135-9
Print release: Apr 28, 2014
Word count: 52,000
Page count: 205
Type: Standalone
Cover by: L.C. Chase
– See more at: Riptide Publishing

Review: To The Other Side (Terra #1) by S.J. Frost

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Biologist and environmentalist Garrett Evergard is hiking through the woods in the Pacific Northwest trying the find the means to save the woods from being clear cut by a developer. All Garrett needs is to find one species of plant or animal rare enough that calls these woods on the edge of the Olympic National Forest home to get them designated as a protected habitat. Little did Garrett know that he was about to stumble into the most amazing find of his life. When Garrett spies a rare spirit or Kermode bear, a white colored black bear that resides only in a specific habitat. Focused only on the spirit bear, a missed step finds Garrett falling into the ravine, an accident that will forever change his life.

Bryson Summers is a Native American, one of a long line of witches and Gatekeepers. Bryson lives a life of two worlds, one on each side of a door in his cottage that straddles the border between them. One is Earth, and on the other side, a magical place called Terra. Here unicorns, dragons of all sizes, and magical beings like brownies and elves live with humans that live and work as they did long ago. The spirit bear calls to Bryson when Garrett falls. Garrett’s injuries are severe and Bryson takes him home to heal and recover.

As Garrett recuperates, the men find their mutual attraction deepens until Bryson finds himself dreading Garrett’s departure, something that Garrett is also not looking forward to. But the forest and his job awaits. And Bryson’s attention is needed to a growing danger from a power mad duke capable of great evil. When Bryson disappears, Garrett will do anything he can to save him but what can a mere human do against such great magic? Garrett is about to find out.

In this first novel in her new series Terra, S.J. Frost takes the idea of parallel worlds and makes it fresh with her own twists and ideas. From the moment we enter the story and watch Garrett confronted with two tiny dragons zipping from flower to flower in a manner akin to hummingbirds, the reader knows they are in for a delightful time in a realm that sparkles with the strangely beautiful and abounds with fantasy creatures we will never get enough of. The Floras or flower dragons are tiny jewels and just one of the many dragon species that spill over the pages and into our hearts. I say one of many because waiting for us inside Bryson’s cabin is Wynn, a small sized white dragon with an affinity for bodice ripper romances and Oreo cookies. And more equally wondrous creations quickly follow on the heels of his appearance (although Wynnie is a heart grabber for sure). Bryson the Gatekeeper is able to talk to them all because of his deep connection to the Earth and all its animals, no matter what side they dwell on. Terra is constructed along the lines of Medieval times. It lacks any form of technology and its societal structure is along those of royalty/peasant/serf strata. In fact, all those elements and species Earth lacks can now be found on the other side. Magic, faeries, dragons, elves, brownies and more to come I expect as more stories unfold and the series expands our knowledge of Terra and its kingdoms.

In addition to the wonderful job S.J. Frost does in building her series universe, we are given an endearing and quixotical core group of characters to connect and empathize with. To The Other Side deals primarily with the meeting and romance of Garrett, the biologist and Bryson, the Gatekeeper but Frost also introduces a host of companions whose stories are sure to follow this one. There is Torren, a Dragon Speaker, who can talk to every type of dragons and mourns the fact that dragon slayers are allowed to prowl the kingdom killing dragons without cause or the slightest hesitation. Zain, the Black Fox, an assassin for hire and known thief. Zain has already found his love, Larkin, but there’s a problem there and its a deep one. Larkin, a bard, is a small, beautiful man with a gift of conversing with the dead, a problem when the man you love is a stone cold killer. And theirs is not the only untenable or hopeless love that Frost reveals in this first story. Another that will appear is an elf Aleric, who sad past and quest is surely deserving of his own story and HEA. And Boggy the brownie who loves to clean and grump about them all. Land’s End, Bryson’s home, serves as their informal headquarters and way house when they are all in the area. Each character is beautifully defined, with the depth and breadth of personality needed to bring them to life and make us care for them all.

Frost has a flask full of complications for Garrett and Bryson to overcome in their own quest for love and a future. Bryson is tied down to his Gate and is long lived due to his connection to the Gate and Earth/Terra. He is also a powerful witch whose gifts are needed in the nearby villages. Garrett too has an important job to finish, that of saving the forest where the Gate is located. He needs to find a rare species to save those woods from a developer and in finding it, it may have found true love as well. There are magical hurdles to overcome as well as realistic mundane ones and watching these two men surmount each and every one is a true joy.

S,J. Frost tells her story with a well developed sense to humor to go along with the pathos. The pace is a little slow in the beginning as Frost is laying the foundation for the story and the series, but once in place the story takes flight. And we and the characters are in for a marvelous ride.

Next up is Torren’s story and that of Sir Karrick Brenton a Knight of the Crown who enters into the story at the very end of To The Other Side. I can’t wait. Already this series has grabbed my attention and my heart. I can’t wait to see where the author takes us with this group of characters on their journeys to romance and true love.

Cover Art by Jared Rackler. A little dark but the outline of the unicorn behind that gorgeous cover model is perfect to set the tone and intrigue the reader.

Book Details:

ebook, 250 pages
Published May 31st 2013 by MLR Press (first published May 30th 2013)
ISBN 1608208680 (ISBN13: 9781608208685)
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=SJF_OTHR
seriesTerra #1
characters: Garrett Evergard, Bryson Summers

Books in the Terra series to date in the order they should be written and read:

To The Other Side (Terra #1)
Knight of Fire (Terra #2)

Review: Poster Boy (Theta Alpha Gamma #5) by Anne Tenino

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Gavin Jacques Gervaise aka “Jock” was a talented college hockey player being scouted by NHL teams when one indiscretion at a party changed everything. Outed by a picture that caught Jock in the middle of a sex act, he was kicked off his college hockey team by his homophobic coach and hounded by flyers sent around campus, Now Jock has transferred from Avalon College to Calapooya College in Oregon. His older brother, Tank, is enrolled there and a member of a Theta Alpha Gamma fraternity. Jock had hoped for anonymity on this campus, but those hopes were dashed when Tank outed his brother again during a frat party organized to announce their new gay friendly status. What Jock wants is a chance to explore his new found sexuality without a spotlight focused on him. The man he chooses to be his first is Toby Moore. Toby and Jock’s first night together is everything and more Jock could hope for. It is also the only night Jock expects them to have because he still has so much and so many hookups to explore. But things never have a way of turning out exactly as planned as Jock should know.

Toby Moore is having one of those years and not in a good way. Toby’s thesis is barely underway when it should be almost completed. And all of Toby’s friends and former dates have found happiness and their significant others, leaving Toby as the permanent third wheel. A new hope for someone to fill the void is broken when Jock decides he only wants a one-night stand with Toby. When Toby needs an extension on his thesis, his professor agrees with a stipulation. Toby must act as a resident chaperone for the Theta Alpha Gamma Student Study trip to Provence, a place that should be perfect for Toby to work on his thesis and get over the pain of rejection from Jock.

But Jock’s problems at Avalon have followed him to Calpooya when that infamous flyer resurfaces at his new campus. The solution is for Jock to go with his TAG frat boys to France and let everything smooth over in his absence. Only Jock didn’t realize Toby was going. Nor did Toby see Jock’s name on his students list. Now that fate and Toby’s advisor has thrown them together, how will Toby and Jock handle their deep attraction to one another now that they live together in romantic Provence?

Anne Tenino has said that Poster Boy marks the end of the Theta Alpha Gamma series, a series about a group of men I have come to love over five stories. While I am sad to see this wonderful series end, Poster Boy ushers them out in a truly outrageous and wonderful manner. I love the idea of taking this ragtag company of overage underachieving adolescents, confused jocks (literally) as well as a major player who is ready for a commitment and sending them together to France. It’s such a pleasure to sit back and read all the comedic mayhem and sometimes surprising romantic entanglements that ensue in Anne Tenino’s absorbing plot.

As the final story, Tenino brings all her main characters out to play here. Sebastian and Brad, Paul and Trevor, Collin and Eric, they are all here, although in varying degrees of importance to this story. And so many of her great secondary frat characters are in play as well, like Tank, Kyle and Jules. But her final story is saved for Toby Moore, a character we have seen in many of the preceding stories and Jock Gervaise, who was introduced at the end of book four. I love these two men, both of whom are at such pivotal points in their lives. Toby is having to reevaluate so many important issues at the moment. Previously commitment phobic, now watching all his friends find love has made Toby aware that he is ready for a permanent relationship as well. And there are no takers lining up for the job. And its not just his love life that’s stalled but his academic one too. Pushed onward into his current course of study by his parents, Toby’s thesis has languished under a lack of inspiration and ambition to finish as he realizes that he doesn’t know what he actually wants to do next with his life. Stymied by his indecision, Toby is that terrific character at that stage in life that everyone can identify with and no idea how to go forward. Tenino has taken a character that might have been less than simpatico and given him the depth and complexity that brings us totally into his corner.

Jock also has arrived at a place in his life where he has to make some major decisions for himself. Up to now the choices he has made have been ones he has not owned up to or choices that have been made for him by others, well meaning or otherwise. New school, new acquaintances, new frat house and an older brother he has always idolized in place to support him, a new start all around. But the past never stays buried and Jock’s past arrives to force him to finally deal with a situation of his own making. And all these colliding problems and issues make Jock one angry and bitter, albeit gorgeous, young man. That state of mind is never a great launching pad for new starts or great decisions. Tenino’s Jock is one frustrating, uncertain, and irritable young man. His is a journey that some readers will find hard to completely empathize with because his actions will make him seem like a bit of a jerk. I felt that way at the beginning too. But the more I thought about his character and the background Tenino has established for him, the more his actions made sense. How does a young boy break out of rigid preconceived notions about himself and his future? And what does he replace it with when all he knows is his family’s conservative background? Jock has had his foundations broken and doesn’t have a playbook on how to establish new ones. Even his beloved older brother has acted in a manner that Jock has not counted on. Anyone would be angry or act like a jerk and Jock does.

Even more than his actions, something more problematic is Jock’s attitude towards topping and bottoming and how that choice might define what makes a man. Jock’s near constant mulling over of this idea drove me to distraction. Enough I wanted to say when it went on ad infinitum. But again, upon more reflection, Anne Tenino has gotten it exactly right. What Jock is obsessing over is nothing less than trying to figure out what being gay means to him and how he looks at himself (and others). It’s that primal “who am I?” question and Jock doesn’t have the answers or have them just yet. Brad among others try to help Jock discover the answer but really only Jock can do that and finally does.Any how, back to Jock and his fumbling about, when you have this big a problem on the brain, then it follows that its all you think about. So yes, Tenino having Jock work his way through the process this way is very realistic. And our frustrations with him are authentic as well.

And while Toby and Jock are slowly finding their way to each other, the rest of the Theta Alpha Gamma delayed adolescents or as Toby calls them, maturity challenged individuals, are scouring the french countryside for beer terrorists, scaring nuns, trying to learn french and totally cracking us up in the process. How I adore Danny, Gomer, Ricky, Julian, Turbo, and Noah. Each is adorable in his own right. Tenino takes the reader and the boys out to visit some wonderful sites as part of the TAG independent study abroad program. The boys visit Les Baux and Barbegal, letting the reader in on their adventures and the wonder of those historic sites. I loved the various locations visited, the descriptions are so vivid and precise it felt like being there. But hilarity and communal hijinks are never far away with this group and just their appearance in a scene is enough to make the laughter bubble up in anticipation.

Poster Boy really can’t be read as a stand alone novel which might be its only drawback for some readers. Its full of characters and situations introduced in the previous stories. So to fully appreciate the TAG fraternity, its frat brothers and the journey they have been on together, the novels should be read in the order they were written. In Poster Boy, Anne Tenino gives them all a wonderful send off, Toby and Jock as well as Sebastian and Brad ,our foundation couple. The author sees them all on their merry way, including an unexpected future for Danny that I loved. The narrative flowed along pretty quickly for 375 pages and it ends where it should for this series, back in Calpooya College and the new frat house. I had so much fun with the Theta Alpha Gamma guys and loved watching each and every one find love and a happy future.

Goodbye, boys. It’s been a true pleasure. And its one I absolutely recommend to all readers to discover for themselves. Happy Reading.

Cover art by LC Chase. Love this cover, perfect for the character and story.

Book Details:

ebook, 375 pages
Expected publication: April 21st 2014 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626491304
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/poster-boy
seriesTheta Alpha Gamma

Books in this Series are:

Frat Boy and Toppy (Theta Alpha Gamma, #1)
Love, Hypothetically (Theta Alpha Gamma, #2)
Sweet Young Thang (Theta Alpha Gamma, #3)
Good Boy (Theta Alpha Gamma, #4)
Poster Boy (Theta Alpha Gamma,#5) final story

Go Back To the Frat with Anne Tenino and her Poster Boy (Giveaway)

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ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to have Anne Tenino back to talk about my favorite frat, the boys of Theta Alpha Gamma and her latest release, Poster Boy! Welcome, Anne!

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Welcome to the Poster Boy Blog Tour! *confetti*

As you may or may not know, Poster Boy is the fifth in the Theta Alpha Gamma series, and (at least as far as I’m able to be sure about such things) the last TAG book. No, no, don’t be sad, be happy—we’re gonna go out in style!

Let’s discuss the nitty-gritty: the Blog Tour Giveaway. The prize package this time includes: one lovely “Theta Alpha Gamma Beer Terrorist Response Team” sweatshirt (I believe I have sizes M-XXL available, choice of two styles); one paperback copy of Frat Boy and Toppy with the new cover art, signed and inscribed to the winner; a bar of soap I bought in Les Baux (was going to send olives from Sainte-Remy, but we ate them . . . sorry about that) and; of course, one penis crocheted by moi.

How does one win, you ask? By following the tour, collecting all the official “prize” words (posts will have them clearly marked), and using them as directed at the end of this post (it’s complicated).

Happy word hunting, and enjoy the tour (psssssst, this one is heavy on the cut scenes).

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Poster Boy buy link.

It’s all fun and games until someone puts his heart out.

When Jock meets sexy grad student Toby at a frat party, things finally start looking up. After having been outed to his hockey team and then changing schools, he figures he’s due something good—like the sex he missed out on in the closet. Toby seems like a great place to start, and their night together is an awesome introduction to the fine art of hooking up.

Toby’s heart takes a bruising after the near-perfect experience with Jock leads to . . . nothing. He’s been left on the outside as his friends pair up into blissful coupledom, and he’s in danger of never completing (or starting) his thesis. Can’t something go right?

Then Toby’s coerced into chaperoning a Theta Alpha Gamma trip to France. Not that he’s complaining. What better place to finish his thesis and get over that frat boy? Except Jock’s outing is leaked to the press, making him an unwilling gay rights martyr, and he decides France is a great escape, too. It’s a break from reality for both guys, but they soon find their connection is as real as it gets.

* * *

When I first started working on Poster Boy, the personality of Toby was pretty much set in stone—or at least the previous books in the series. Jock was less defined, but I thought I had a pretty good handle on him.

The road to writer’s block is paved with characters that don’t conform to expectations. It’s paved with some other stuff, too, like plots that careen out of control, but today we’re discussing characters—Jock specifically. The character who derailed this book for a couple of months.

He’s mentioned in Frat Boy and Toppy as Tank’s little brother, although he’s unnamed in that book, and we don’t see or hear from him again until Sweet Young Thang. Right up until he walked into the frat/dorm with his big brother, I thought he was going to be a happy-ish guy, even with the specter of having been outed hanging over his head. Here’s a very early character note on him (before I started writing SYT): “. . . his first experience in college got him totally burned. By end of book he should be showing some signs of his joyous, puppy dog ways.”

Yeah.

Then he actually entered the room and everything changed. He was pissed, I could see it in my head—angry flush to his cheeks, jaw hard and set, hands fisted in his jeans pockets, staring down the world. I tried to hang on to my vision of the Jock who would turn into the big, playful, puppy dog.

That lasted about ten paragraphs. You see, Jock shows up at Theta Alpha Gamma a week into Calapooya College’s winter term after having been kicked off his college hockey team for being gay. That’s not the official reason he was booted off, but everyone knows it’s the real one. This is a snippet of the scene where I ultimately gave up trying to make him what I’d originally thought:

“How is you being gay pertinent?” Collin kept his voice calm

Jock lifted his head and looked Collin in the eye. That’s when it became clear that while the kid felt depressed and ashamed and maybe beaten, he also had a lot of anger. “There’s a lot of blood-letting in hockey, you know.”

It took Collin a few seconds to get it. “He thinks you’re a health risk?”

Jock clenched his jaw and nodded. Then he laughed shortly and looked away. “You can even see the other guy in the photo has a condom on.”

“That is the most fucking archaic attitude I think I’ve ever heard.” Kyle said, relatively calmly for him.

Jock shrugged, looking back at the floor. “He’s an archaic guy.”

“That’s illegal.” Kyle stood up straight again. “You can’t discriminate against someone because of their HIV status, and you certainly can’t discriminate against someone because of their potential status.”

“He said that he needed to know it was possible so he could take the necessary precautions, and that I’d endangered the team.” Jock’s voice had gone flat, and he took a long swallow of beer.

He’s angry over being exposed like he was—I had to write him that way, it would be ridiculous not to—but somehow I knew right then that once he’d worked through that anger, there wasn’t going to be a happy, bouncy dude underneath. He’s in a good place by the end of Poster Boy, sure, but for Jock, being happy looks more like not being a dick than greeting the world with a smile.

Now is when I should say something like, “In the future, if a character changes like this, I’ll . . .” blah-blah-blah. The reality is this happens every freaking time. Or, if my characters behave themselves, the plot decides to go wonky. It doesn’t matter what I do—everything is subject to change. And to be honest? I love it that way. I’d be bored if I knew every step they’re going to take. So, you know? I’m glad Jock took over and directed things.

In the end, it all worked out. He ended up being the guy he needed to be, and the guy Toby needed.

* * *

Contest: For those of you playing to win the blog tour prize cache, here’s the word: swag.

The word game—the rules are that I provide a bunch of words, and you have to create an ode to testicles. Hey, it’s fair—I gave you an ode to testicles in the book (well, part of one), you should give me one in return, using all the words from the tour. You may add any other words you need to, but it must include every word I gave out on the tour.

Of course, creative cheating might receive a pass from me . . .

At the end of the tour, send your ode to me at anne @ annetenino.com and I will choose one lucky winner from all the entries I receive by paying one of my children some exorbitant amount to draw an ode out of a hat (or other handy receptacle). All masterpieces must be to me by May 4th, 2014 at midnight Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -7:00).

For a schedule of all tour stops, you can go here.

Oh, and:

*If the winner will be at GRL, GayRomance Northwest or the RT Booklover’s Convention, I’m also offering a lunch with me. And yes, I’ll pay. 😉

* * *

Author Bio: Raised on a steady diet of Monty Python, classical music and the visual arts, Anne Tenino was—famously—the first patient diagnosed with Compulsive Romantic Disorder. Since that day, Anne has taken on conquering the M/M world through therapeutic writing. Finding out who those guys having sex in her head are and what to do with them has been extremely liberating.

Anne’s husband finds it liberating as well, although in a somewhat different way. Her two daughters are mildly confused by Anne’s need to twist Ken dolls into odd positions. However, other than occasionally stealing Ken1’s strap-on, they let Mom do her thing without interference.

Wondering what Anne does in her spare time? Mostly she lies on the couch, eats bonbons and shirks housework.

Check out what Anne’s up to now by visiting her at:

Review: Queens of the Apocalypse by Rob Rosen

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Fabulous drag queens Destiny St. James, Kit Kat, and Blondella Bombshell were making preparations for their first show of the evening when all hell broke loose and life on earth was forever changed. Protected by the steel walls of their dressing room, formerly a meat locker in a converted old restaurant, the drag queens never saw the solar flares that reduced most of the earth’s population to zombies. But once outside, the direness of their situation is soon made all too clear. Zombies are everywhere and only a message left on Blondella’s cell phone indicates that other people might have made it through alive, including her boyfriend in New York City.

What ensues is no less than apocalyptic road trip across American, one that would include the remnants of the US Army, Cher and an armload of Bob Mackie costumes, a few bedazzlers and strangely enough, true love for all three. Not even the destruction of civilization as we know is enough to keep these girls out of their Jimmy Choos (knockoffs) and red nail polish! Watch out, zombies, the Queens of the Apocalypse are headed your way!

I love, LOVE Queens of the Apocalypse! Just when I think I am all “zombied out” by all the zombie books, undead tv shows and movies, along comes this fabulous (what other word could possibly fit) novel by Rob Rosen and I am back in the zombie fan club. Of course, no other zombie story that I am aware of has such flamboyant, totally impossible and outrageously lovable stars like Destiny, Kit and Blondella! Nothing gets these girls down, including world annihilation and solar flares.

Rob Rosen made me believe in and fall in love with these drag queens from the very start when we meet them in the process of getting made up for their evening show at the club. The dialog between the girls in the dressing room is affectionately snarky and hilarious, while remaining down to earth and totally real. Making notes as I read became impossible as the story and those fabulous girls kept me enthralled in their journey across country and life and death situations they encounter. It’s that old ‘laughing through the tears” storyline, but mostly laughing even as the living dead surround them and their circumstance often seems hopeless. But Rob is not interested in stereotypes, although some of the situations and scenes can be downright campy. No, Rosen has delivered some confident, intelligent, and resilient individuals who persevere no matter how high the odds or zombies that are stacked against them. Destiny, our narrator, Kit and Blondella just keep rising to the occasion when presented with new obtacles or surprises, like an undead Drag Queen friend of theirs, Creature and a wealth of SuperSoakers as artillery! With wigs askew, makeup running, and cracked nails, these wonderful characters demonstrate compassion, and a largesse of heart that keeps this story poignant as well as comedic. Because even with all the death and mayhem surrounding them, there are such great comedic episodes that will have you laughing till your cheeks hurt. And there are still those quiet moments of reflection and despair, often at night, where the frightening reality of exactly how slim their chances are of making it is driven home for them and for the reader. This is such an amazing story.

Rob Rosen’s tightly told and layered narrative never falters or bogs down. Instead we and the Queens are moved along at a fast pace, just barely (and sometimes not at all) keeping ahead of the zombie hoards now roaming the city streets and countryside. Voracious, stiff and groaning, the zombies here are both heartbreaking and scary. And they never stop coming. Rosen’s plan for them was as surprising a twist as all the other elements found here. I loved it. And Queen Creature too. Because for all the quips and bon mots Destiny, Kit, Blondella throw out, underneath all that bravado is the heart-rending reality of a world forever traumatically changed. It’s a new reality where all everyone they knew has died and returned as zombies. Vanished as well is all the support and social structure people count on, that of the United States of America as most probably all other countries too.

And even though Rosen has created some wonderful companions/love interests for our heroines, the sad fact is none of our merry band of survivors can be sure that there are more like them out there. So struggle on they do, with hope, love, and a great deal of attitude, they are drag queens after all. But yes, love interests arrive and they are as interesting a lot as the drag queens they fall in love with. There aren’t many characters here (as you can well imagine) but those still talking and walking are as layered and realistic a group as the main characters.

Queens of the Apocalypse is one novel that has it all. It has humor, suspense, horror, romance, and an absolutely outstanding ending. Its as if Rosen went through the literary pantry pulling everything off the shelves and tossing them into his author mixing bowl. And what he came up with is a smashing fictional dish that satisfies everyones palate. A goodly dose of guffaws is balanced with a bouquet of tears, a pinch of spice and snark to go with the softness and surprise of love found amongst the ruins of society. Really I can’t wait to go back and read it all over again.

I highly recommend you put this on the top of your TBR stack if you aren’t already reading it now. It is one of ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Best of 2014!

Cover art by Wilde City Press. I certainly wish I knew the name of the artist behind this fabulous cover. It’s utter perfection and almost too big in attitude to be reduced to the size of a cover. I love this!

Book Details:

Published January 29th 2014 by Wilde City Press
ISBN139781925031775
edition languageEnglish
Buy Link: Wilde City Press

Surprise Author Spotlight:Rob Rosen, author of Queens of the Apocalypse (contest)

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So for a great unexpected author guest post, Rob Rosen is stopping by today to talk about his latest release, the fabulous Queens of the Apocalypse! My review follows Rob’s guest post, but I will tell you up front I adored this story. And that incredible cover too! Rob is giving away one eBook copy of this terrific story. To be entered to win, leave a comment and an email address in the body of the comment. Contest closes 4/29!

Now, welcome Rob Roseon to ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords!

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Hey, how come there are no drag queens vs. zombies novels out there, you ask? Well, you probably didn’t ask, but I did and realized that, lo and behold, I’d discovered a new sub-genre—um, maybe sub-sub and a little off to the left. In any case, I’m a fan of both zombies and drag queens, having written about both of them in a slew of my novels and short stories, so why not combine the two and see what happens? Hence Queens of the Apocalypse!

In fact, all my novels, the six prior to this one, have a drag queen minor character or two, but this is the first time I’ve ever made them the stars of my work. See, a drag queen can say or do anything and pretty much get away with it. Heck, they can say or do practically anything and get tipped for it. Now, add a whole bunch of drag queens, all of them fighting to save their padded asses, not to mention all of humanity, and one hell of a hysterically funny novel is born—or at least undead.

As for zombies, they’re so in the public eye these days, so vastly popular, that it was an easy decision to make them the bad guys. Bad and slow, in fact, though with mine, with the potential for humanity, which makes them different than most. Plus, I was able to create what I can only assume is the very first literary drag queen zombie heroine, and that’s really saying something special, for a writer I mean. In fact, I believe that with this novel I’ve created a whole zany bunch of unique characters, all of them dazzling and witty and certainly the type you don’t want to mess with—and live, or unlive, to tell about it. Add a little pathos, a ton of romance, a lesson learned or two, plus a surprise guest and a billion menacing zombies, and, voila, you have what amounts to my favorite work to date, Okay, so you can take that with a grain of salt, seeing as I say that about all my novels, but still. And then, to top it all off, I’ve included a spectacular foreword by none other than Sister Roma, as a sort of Drag Queen 101, just in case you needed a little refresher course.

So that’s my latest in a coffin-shaped nutshell. I hope you’re able to pick up a copy. Enjoy!

Rob

Contest Giveway: Leave a comment with an email address in the body of the comment where we can get in touch with you. Winner chosen by mysterious means will get an ebook copy of the fabulous Queens of the Apocalypse! Contest ends 4/29.

Author Bio:

Rob Rosen is the author of the critically acclaimed novels, “Sparkle: The Queerest Book You’ll Ever Love”, the Lambda Literary Award Nominated “Divas Las Vegas”, which was the winner of the 2010 TLA Gaybies for Best Gay Fiction, “Hot Lava”, “Southern Fried”, the Lambda Literary Award Nominated “Queerwolf”, “Vamp”, and “Queens of the Apocalypse”. His short stories have appeared in more than 200 anthologies. You can find 20 of them in his erotic romance anthology, “Good & Hot”. He is also the editor of “Lust in Time: Erotic Romance Through the Ages”.

You can contact/follow Rob Rosen at:

Book Details:

Published January 29th 2014 by Wilde City Press ISBN139781925031775 edition languageEnglish url http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-mainstream/queens-of-the-apocalypse/#.UvLM9fldWSo

Buy Links: Wilde City Press ARe

Review: Haunted Halls by M. Raiya

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Evan is away from home for the first time in his life as a freshman at Rove University. He should be excited about being independent and the prospect of meeting new people and making friends. But Evan is miserable. Homesick and feeling more alone than he’s ever been, the only reason Evan is at Rove instead of a commuter college is due to his parents insistence. Evan is trying but nothing is working.

Then Evan notices a young man sitting high above the courtyard where he is eating. Long dark hair and lean, the student seems without fear as he leans far out over the ledge. But at next glance the student is gone and Evan is left to wonder at exactly what he saw. Then he spots him again when Evan walks down to the pond near the university. The young man, Gabriel, warns Evan not to fall asleep on the rock,otherwise he might drown. Then with a smile, he vanishes once more.

Who Gabriel is Evan isn’t sure, he only knows that when he is at his most miserable and defeated, Gabriel appears to talk and make him feel better at being away from home. His classmates and some teachers say the university is haunted and that the ghost roams the campus at night, playing pranks and sometimes helping those in need.

Evan doesn’t believe in ghosts. Maybe he should.

Haunted Halls by M Raiya is a sweet, unusual paranormal romance whose characters, especially that of Evan, are the real draw here. Evan is that true homebody. He adores his parents and the only place he wants to be is back home in his small town in Vermont. But his parents worry about Evan limiting himself at this age so they send him off to Rove University hoping that this unwanted separation and independence will be good for him. They extracted a promise that he will stay there a year. If he toughs it out and still wants to come home after that then they will let him. Such a normal situation and the parental concern is so very realistic. I am a fan of this author and this set up is exactly the reason why. A typical introverted teenager who is always on the outskirts of high school social circles and with very different interests from the popular kids is leery of the unknown that is Rove University. This starting point is one that almost everyone can relate to. And then Even arrives at Rove and everything changes.

It’s hard to go into too much detail because of the chance of revealing story spoilers, but to say the least this is not exactly the ghost story that you are expecting. M Raiya has a few twists in store for the reader. Just when you have anticipated the reveal, Raiya shows she have something very different in mind. And that’s both the best and most frustrating aspect of this story.

Haunted Halls takes its name from the clever idea that a student marked through the words Hallowed on a plaque to change it to read Haunted Halls after the campus ghost that is said to haunt this university. Raiya has two congruent plot threads going that will eventually converge as the story heads towards its dramatic resolution. The first concerns Evan during the first weeks of his arrival at Rove. Depressed and lonely, he is in a delicate mental and emotional place. And that’s when he meets the mysterious Gabriel. Each time Evan is at his lowest, the ever elusive Gabriel manages to appear, almost out of thin air, to bring Evan out of his dark place and make it better. The second thread appears when Evan meets two students who are interested in the campus legends and together the three of them start to investigate in the ghostly appearances and past history of the university and town. As the story draws down to a conclusion the closer the two threads become until they connect in one shattering moment.

I really loved this short story and only a couple of things kept it from being a perfect little gem. The first is hard to explain but the reason behind Gabriel’s appearance and the ghostly rumors is one of the most interesting and least fleshed out elements of this story. The fascinating idea behind it just begs for a deeper explanation for it as well as more plot time. Raiya only gives out small bits of the past, the pivotal surprise at the heart of this story, and its nature. So the idea is never framed out completely to the readers frustration, especially as it plays such an enormous role in its impact on all the major characters here. One of the problems behind that lack of substance to this segment of the story is the word count. The promise of this complicated story line would be hard to fulfill at a larger page count let alone 21,000 words. And the fascinating concept here is such a great one that I wish Raiya had given it the spotlight in the story that it deserved.

But those issues aside, I throughly enjoyed Haunted Halls. Growing up I grabbed up all the ghost stories I could find, and this short story brought back all those happy memories of romance, and ghosts and unlikely endings that would ever be my favorites. It’s a quick, charming tale of love and the unexpected. Pick it up for a fun, fast read.

Cover art by Aisha Akeju who is quickly becoming one of my favorite new artists. Great cover. Its perfect for the story inside.

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: May 7th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
original titleHaunted Halls
ISBN139781620043554

Buy Link at LT3 Press
edition languageEnglish

Now Cut that Out, Winner Announcements and the Week Ahead in Reviews, Author Guest Blogs, & Contests

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Now Cut That Out!!!!

Once again we seem to be on the weather rollercoaster of all time here in the DC area (ok, so much of the country is there with us). One day 80 degrees, the next day snow and sleet. No really, that was us last week. The Cherry Blossoms popped out over night and record crowds packed the Tidal Basin to take in the pink beauty and monuments.

For about 2 to 3 days.

And then the snow and sleet and winds and freezing cold set in once more. I don’t have to tell you what happened to most of the blossoms do I? Yep, history. So now the temps have climbed back to the 50’s and all the plants I moved outside are back indoors until who knows when.

Like me.

Maybe by the end of June I will be able to go outside and plant in the gardens. I have so many plants that didn’t make it through this winter. Le sigh. Maybe I will use this as an excuse to plan some new gardens. I will have plenty of bare patches to fill that’s for sure.

Now on to the business at hand. I have several winner announcements listed below, for Abigail Roux’s Ball & Chain book tour . S.J. Frost’s Vampire Prince tour, and Blaine D. Arden’s The Forester II Guest Blog/Contest:

And the Winners Are……

✪Winners of the Ball & Chain Book Tour and Contest are:

Jessie Miller
Shannonn Vandermark
Melissa Crisp
Denise Smith

Kathy Latimer
Debra Guyette
Laurie Peterson
Cindi Clubbs,
Scarlett Camaj
Nicole Martens

✪Winner of SJ Frost’s Vampire Prince, tour is : A.J.

✪Winner of Blaine D. Arden’s The Forester is: blackasphodel

Congratulations to all the winners. My thanks goes out to everyone who participated as well as authors Abigail Roux and S.J. Frost for stopping by with such great posts and wonderful giveaways!

Now on to the week ahead in Reviews, Author Guest Blogs and Contests:

Monday, 4/21: Haunted Halls by M Raiya
Tuesday, 4/22: Queens of the Apocalypse by Rob Rosen
Wed., 4/23: Back to the Frat with Anne Tenino and her Poster Boy (Contest)
Thursday, 4/24: Poster Boy by Anne Tenino
Friday, 4/25: To the Other Side by S.J. Frost
Sat., 4/26: Blown Kisses by Havan Fellows

Review: Floodgates by Mary Calmes

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

All Tracy Brandt ever wanted was a happy life. Instead what Tracy had was a complicated one. Business partners with a man many consider to be a Russian thug, Tracy knows better, even when their offices are bombed and he barely escapes with his life. Then there is Tracy’s love life. He thought he and his lover were happy and committed, then Tracy found his lover in bed with another man and the relationship was shattered. Or so Tracy thought.

But lately his ex,Breckin Alcott, has been trying to renew their relationship, something Tracy is sure he doesn’t want or does he? Then in the aftermath of the bombing, Tracy’s overprotective brother, DEA Agent Alexander Brandt, and his infuriating ex partner Cordell Nolan or Cord for short, show up at the hospital and things go from bad to worse.

For five years, Trace and Cord have been fighting the attraction between them. For Cord, it never worked because Trace wanted a commitment, something Cord was unwilling or unable to give at the time. For Trace, Cord was a player, a new man every night and that was something Trace would never be, just a one night stand. So for five years its been an impasse. Then Trace’s office gets bombed and Cord returns to help investigate and protect Tracy, a man Cord now wants to commit to for a future together.

When it appears that Trace is the target of an unknown assailant, not just the bombing, then Cord is determined to protect Trace at all costs. And if it means that they can finally break through the barriers that have been separating them, then nothing will stop Cord from finding who is behind the attacks on Trace so they can finally get their HEA.

I have loved Mary Calmes’ stories from the moment I read about Jory and Sam in A Matter of Time (both editions). For myself, Calmes is a comfort read. You know what to expect with her characters and dialog and you know how it will all end. The pleasure is in getting to that expected denouement and whatever couples involved HEAs. It is the comfort of the known, like the pleasure you have in a visit from an old friend. Perfect stories for that old armchair and evening in the jammies and bunny slippers.

But sometimes even that is not enough when other parts of the story let you down and familiar characters fall flat instead of fizz with effervescence. And that unfortunately is how Floodgates felt to me.

In Floodgates, Tracy is the Jory character and Sam is represented by Cord. Not a problem at face value as we have seen this in her contemporary fiction before. However, Tracy is that uber perfect character who never admits how hurt he is (physically or emotionally). Trace trusts everyone, including those people that clearly have the letter V on their foreheads for villain. He teases his ex who cheated on him and wonders why the man doesn’t think they are over. The ex, Breckin, is such an unsavory cad that you want to dust him for stds just seeing a mention of him on the page. But Trace is warm and welcoming each time they talk or meet or what have you. Really, after pages of this, you wonder why anyone would find Tracy realistic in any way because he never comes across as a viable human being.

Cord doesn’t suffer from the same characterization flaws that Trace does except that as an experienced detective, the mistakes made in the investigation and the “smack hand to the forehead” lack of any authentic police work, makes Cord as superficial a character as any of the others found here. And again there are an untold number of superficial characters to be found here. Normally that is not a problem because the reader is so involved in the main characters journey to love and a relationship. But when that founders, so does everything else like a domino chain effect.

And then there is Tracy’s business partner, Dimah Masir, a Russian who may or may not be a Russian mobster (first red herring alert). Dimah also may or may not have a mobster brother (second red herring alert). Tracy says he’s not but Dimah sure has plenty of henchmen running around and law enforcement officers who believe he’s a thug. No matter. After much is made of this connection, Dimah disappears entirely only to make an astonishingly unbelievable appearance almost at the end of the story. The only reason for Dimah to be in this story is to either be served up as a rather inedible red herring or Calmes intends to bring him back for his own story. Either way I did find him the most interesting element here so I was sorry to see him vanish.

And that brings me to the plot. It just didn’t work. At the beginning it appears that the bombing is connected to Dimah and his shady connections. But when Calmes discards that element, then the detours and misdirections that follow make no sense whatsoever. But perhaps the worst element is a villain that pops up out of nowhere, with little foundation laid for his role, and an arrow over his head that clearly marks him as the nut job to watch out for. Which of course, no one does, including the DEA agent and an seasoned detective. A 5 year old could figure out this character’s role in the plot. Unfortunately almost everything about Floodgates is a jumbled mess, lacking complexity or coherency.

And that includes nitpicky little details like a Vermont shack used to “store syrup from the maple trees”. Uh no. In Vermont as in other maple syrup producing states, a sugar shack is where the maple sap is boiled down into syrup, a labor intensive process that happens only in the spring when the sap is rising. And that process? Makes it much more expensive than $6/bottle for high grade maple syrup. A small mistake, true, but when the story is falling flat, it’s the small errors like this one that become highlighted in the narrative because your attention is everywhere but where it should be, which is on the plot.

For me, Floodgates is that Mary Calmes story that will never be reread or remembered. For some, the issues listed above will not matter. For them, its enough that it is a Mary Calmes romance. Its predictability, characters, sweetness, and HEA is all they need to recommend it. And that’s perfectly fine. But for others, this may not be the romance for you. There are other Mary Calmes stories I would recommend, including her wonderful supernatural series or other contemporary stories like Frog. If you are new to this author, I would start there. For everyone else, I will let you make up your own mind.

Cover art by Reese Dante. What a spectacular cover, evocative and one of the best of the year.

Book Details:

ebook, 234 pages
Published March 3rd 2014 by Dreamspinner Press (first published March 2nd 2014)
ISBN 162798738X (ISBN13: 9781627987387)
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

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