Category: Uncategorized

Review: Taking Chances (Elemental Connections 2 – PF 2014 Bonus) by Lee Brazil

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Taking Chances CoverChance is on the phone with Cannon out in Arizona, when he hears Cannon give a shout, a banging on the door at the other end of the phone and then a dropped call.  When further calls to Cannon go unanswered, there is only one thing to do.  Drop  everything and head out immediately for Mountain Shadows, Arizona, and Cannon.  That’s exactly what Chance DuMont and his young lover, Rory Gaines, do.  For when old  friends and ex-lovers need help, you help them.  Even if it might cause some problems with your new lover and your happy relationship.

Even though Rory and Cannon have become friends, uncertainties and old jealousies are never  far away.  When Chance is reunited with his old love, how will his new one handle it?

Taking Chances is a bonus story that combines the characters from the first Pulp Friction series, Chances Are in 2013 and brings them into the realm of the Elemental Connections Pulp Friction 2014 series.  Specifically, Chance DuMont and his new lover, Rory Gaines are off to visit/rescue Chance’s old lover Cannon Malloy who is living at the Mountain Shadows campground outside of Flagstaff, Arizona.

Cannon Malloy is a crossover character from the first series and now he is in the middle of the mess that is Mountain Shadows Campgrounds.  Desperately  unhappy when he first moved west, he has periodically called Chance and Rory when homesickness and loneliness hit home.  In this new series, Cannon has really come into his own as a character.  He’s no longer at odds with his sexuality and the move has been good for him, mostly.  But that last phone call brings some unexpected visitors and some closure too.

Taking Chances is a sort of temporary reprieve from all the emotional drama and criminal events happening at Mountain Shadows.   Chance and Rory think they are riding to the rescue.  Are they?  Not for me to say.  But Brazil uses this short story to bring closure to certain matters between the three characters as well as let us see an event that has already occurred from another perspective.  One real highlight?  Viewing the new Cannon through the lens of his ex lover and friend, Chance.  It makes the changes in Cannon fresh and vivid.  Typically, the story is told from either Cannon or Finn’s view point which means we are  deep in the middle of whatever muddle or argument or sexy makeup or out session they are involved in.  Now we get to step back and see it from someone removed from the daily happenings and their personal lives.  And I just loved that.

Plus any chance to visit with, well, Chance and Rory, is great too.  We get caught up on their lives and romance since the last time we saw them in 2013.  Lee Brazil’s narrative strides along, complete with snark, snappy dialog, and a few poignant moments. And its over way too soon.

Taking Chances is short, sweet, and sexy.  It combines old characters we loved with new ones we have grown to love and the mixture is marvelous.  I hope this is only the first of many crossover stories to come.  Fingers crossed in anticipation.

Cover art by Laura Harner.  Lovely as usual.

For all the Pulp Friction 2014 stories, visit any of my reviews for Havan Fellows Whispering Winds series, T.A. Webb’s Earthquake series, Lee Brazil’s In From the Cold series or Laura Harner’s Fighting Fire series.  All part of the Elemental Connections Pulp Friction 2014 interconnected series.

Buy Links:                  All Romance Ebooks (ARe)                     Amazon         Taking Chances

About Pulp Friction 2014

Laura Harner ~ Lee Brazil ~ Havan Fellows ~ T.A. Webb
The Pulp Friction 2014 Collection. Four authors. Four Series. Twenty books. One fiery finale. Spend a year with an eclectic group of strangers brought together through circumstances, as they are tested by life, and emerge as more than friends.

The strongest bonds are forged by fire, cooled in air, smoothed by water, grounded in earth.

Although each series can stand alone, we believe reading the books in the order they are released will increase your enjoyment.

Book Details:

ebook, First, 37 pages
Published July 8th 2014 by Lime Time Press
ASINB00LMOIT9W
edition languageEnglish

 

Take a Closer Look: L.A. Somerton’s Picturing Lysander Book Tour/Contest!

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WHP_LM Somerton_Book Tour_final banner

 

L.M Somerton has a new story out!  It’s Picturing Lysander, one of Totally Bound’s new What’s His Passion? Imprint line.  To help celebrate its launch, Totally Bound and L.M. Somerton have brought a terrific contest to enter, a few musings from the author about the story and book details below.  Happy Reading and Good luck on the contest!

 

Contest:   To celebrate the launch of What’s his Passion? Totally Bound Publishing are giving away a bundle of great prizes. Enter HERE for your chance to win.  Must be 18 years of age to enter.  Contest open world wide.

Testing Limits by L.M. Somerton

The strapline for Picturing Lysander is “Photography, like love, should have no limits.” This is really a combination of the philosophies of the two main characters. Lysander Brock treats photography like an extreme sport. His profession is an adventure fuelled by passion. Kyle Dawson is a dominant and he wants to push Brock to a different kind of limit.

It was interesting to explore the connection between characters that in some ways are very similar – they both thrive on adventure and can’t resist a challenge; they both initially have doubts about whether a relationship would work for them. Physical attraction is not in question. It’s the psychological dilemma that makes the dynamics between them interesting. Brock is submissive but has great strength of character. Kyle is dominant but cautious of Brock’s indecision. I wanted to draw a parallel between the dangerous mission they face and the risks they accept by being together.

Of course, you’ll have to read the full novel next year to find out if either side of the story has a HEA!

picturinglysander_800Blurb for Picturing Lysander:

Photography, like love, should have no limits.

Lysander Brock is a talented photographer and capturing the perfect picture is his passion. His work takes him all over the world and he is famous for his willingness to take risks for the perfect image.

Kyle Dawson is tasked by his mysterious employer to obtain Brock’s services for a dangerous job and he’s prepared to use any method to ensure that the young photographer does as he’s told. Breaking and entering and blackmail are just tools of his trade.

Despite the circumstances, the spark of attraction between Brock and Kyle is strong. Brock’s addiction to adrenaline-fuelled adventure holds him captive, just as much as Kyle’s brooding dominant appeal. As a fragile trust builds between them, Kyle takes a gamble and tells Brock the truth about his mission. Can Brock accept the challenges ahead—as a photographer and as a man?

 

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Buy Picturing Lysander here!
Author Bio:
Lucinda lives in a small village in the English countryside, surrounded by rolling hills, cows and sheep. She started writing to fill time between jobs and is now firmly and unashamedly addicted.

She loves the English weather, especially the rain, and adores a thunderstorm. She loves good food, warm company and a crackling fire. She’s fascinated by the psychology of relationships, especially between men, and her stories contain some subtle (and not so subtle) leanings towards BDSM.

Author link at Totally Bound.

Totally Bound Logo

Review: Second Helpings by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Old kitchen table rural cottage morningWhen Stuart Collins’s partner Mark died in a car crash the previous year, he thought his life had ended too.  But life has a funny way of letting you recover and heal, while showing you the path to your future.  Stuart’s mother died five years ago, a wonderful woman whose loss was deeply mourned by husband and son.  Now a new woman, Isabel Franklin, has come into Stuart’s father life, the only one since his mother passed away.

When a still grieving Stuart was called in by his father to meet the new woman his dad has been dating, Stuart finds himself liking her as well.  It turns out she has a gay son Stuart’s age who has just returned from assignment in the States.  So Stuart was not totally surprised to get a call from Paul Franklin who wants to vet the man (and the man’s son) who has turned his mother’s head.

Paul Franklin considers himself taken.  His lover, Ben, has remained back in the States but Ben is curiously unavailable when Paul has tried to contact him.  Unsettled by his lover’s absence and silence, Paul, is startled to find himself attracted to the sad, gentle man who agrees to meet him to discuss their parents.  Paul’s not the only one shocked by their mutual attraction.  Stuart feels like he is betraying Mark’s memory by the emotions meeting Paul has engendered.

Two men tied by their parents relationship , guilt and uncertainty.  Can they move forward together?  Can they trust the emotions each makes the other feel?  When life offers a second chance at love, will they take it or let it pass by?

Second Helpings is a gentle tale of loss and love by Charlie Cochrane, a favorite m/m historical author of mine.  A contemporary tale, Second Helpings, charts the pain of losing your partner and relationship and the struggle to move forward when you have a chance to live and love once more.  Both main characters have a similar love situations and family histories but with an important difference.   Stuart Collins lost his loving partner in a car crash and his adored mother to cancer.  His home life and coming out were supportive and without drama.  The loss of Mark as well as his Mother have cut into him deeply.  Paul’s romance is on hold, a loss of immediacy and of contact.  His lover, Ben, has remained behind in the US and has been out of contact with Paul, not answering emails, phone messages and what have you.  Paul lost his father years prior but without the same sense of loss as his family situation and upbringing were vastly difference from Stuart’s.  That variance in family life has left both men with strikingly different viewpoints about relationships and partners.

I love Charlie Cochrane’s ability to bring forth portraits of real human beings under stressful conditions.  There is no explosive drama to be found here other than that of two men floundering about in their personal lives, each stymied by emotional blockades and miscommunications.  Oh and pride as well.  Cochrane has Stuart and Paul making such tentative steps forward, then one huge tumultuous one that shakes everyone up.  What is so lovely and recognizable about this story and Cochrane’s writing is that all the missed steps and romantic blinders these men have put on seem familiar and true.  And when they make a hash of it in the bargain, whether it be arguments or self delusional shielding, we get that too.  We might not like it, but we certainly can understand  the all too real authenticity of the snaps and cracks at each other.

There are certainly moments here that let you know this is a British author and story.  I had to look up what a secondment actually meant (it’s a transfer).  There is the usual biscuit for cookies and the utterly charming way the British put their phones on Discreet instead of the American blunt term of Mute.  Those touches makes me smile and appreciate our differences as well as our  similarities.

What might throw you off the story?  The oddly formal narrative at the beginning of the story.  It almost feels as though it came from another author and  book as the language and flow is dramatically different from the main body of the story.   Move past that and you are into the narrative and able to enjoy a lovely beginning to a romance between two men in desperate need of a new future for them both.  There is no case of “instant love” thankfully.  That would be a disservice to the emotional back history Cochrane has given to both men.    What the author delivers feels as painful and down to earth as life makes it. She gives them hope and a chance at love and families that adore them in a story that makes for a terrific read.  Who could want for more?

Cover artist:  Amber Shah.  I like the cover.  The blue tone is certainly in keeping with the storyline and characters.

Buy Links:             Riptide Publishing               All Romance eBooks (ARe)            Amazon Second Helpings

Book Details:

ebook, 140 pages
Published July 21st 2014 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626491526
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/second-helpings

On Tour Today: Get Second Helpings by Charlie Cochrane (contest)

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Look who’s stopping by today at ScatteredThoughts!  If you hear a tinkling of the tea cup, that’s a hint because Charlie Cochrane, one of my favorite authors (see my reviews for The Cambridge Fellows Mysteries), is hear to talk about her latest release Second Helpings.  Charlie has also brought along a giveaway for you all.

Contest:

There’s two ways to win today! Comment below for a chance to win an ebook from Charlie Cochrane’s backlist (excluding Second Helpings), and a mix of summer seaside goodies! AND you can also enter at Rafflecopter.  That gets you entered too.  Or do both for a double entry!  Go wild!  But you still must be 18 years of age or older to enter!  Good luck to all.

Now here’s Charlie Cochrane on Second Helpings and Soundtracks:

 

I’m thrilled skinny to be dropping in here as part of the Second Helpings blog tour. A million thanks to Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for having me as a guest.

***
A Soundtrack to Second Helpings

I’ve often seen blog posts about stories that focus on music. What the author listened to when writing the book, or what inspired them to write it in the first place, what songs the characters like or key music for key plot points.

I’ve not done one of these before, not least because I rarely think of a story in terms of songs and if I wrote a “what I listened to as I wrote this” list it would be something uninteresting, like:

Saracens vs London Irish, rugby
Leicestershire vs Hampshire, cricket
Round the Horne
Busman’s Honeymoon, with Lord Peter Wimsey.

Second Helpings is an exception, though. I have a song I associate with Stuart and what he’s feeling about his partner Mark, who died in a traffic accident a year before this story starts. That song is “I Find Your Love” by Beth Nielsen Chapman, and it’s a stunning portrayal of grief, remembrance and the loss of a loved one. Stuart hasn’t moved, yet, to the point where he finds much comfort in the memories of Mark, but he certainly gets reminded of the man in many things, even in something as simple as the burgeoning fruit on the plum tree in the garden.

Is there a song for Paul? Maybe Eric Clapton’s “Who do you love?” although Paul isn’t certain there is another man in his (maybe ex) partner Ben’s life. What I really need is a mash-up of songs like “Private Number”, “Call me” and “Busy Line”, or something like ELO’s lovely “Telephone Line” or Elvis’s “Return to Sender” revamped for the digital age.

I seem to be on a roll now. Maybe I should do this for more of my guys?

***
Old kitchen table rural cottage morningAbout Second Helpings:
Stuart Collins’s life might as well have ended a year ago when his partner died in a car crash. Even Stuart’s widowed father has found new love with an old friend, Isabel Franklin, so why can’t Stuart be bothered to try?

Then he gets a phone call from Isabel’s son, Paul, who wants to check out whether or not Mr. Collins is good enough for his mother. During dinner together, though, they end up checking out each other. Trouble is, Paul’s got a boyfriend—or maybe he doesn’t, since the boyfriend’s supposedly giving Paul the push by ignoring him. Or maybe Paul just wants to have his cake and eat it too.

Honesty with each other is the only way to move forward. But maybe honesty with themselves is what they really need.

***
Author Bio:  As Charlie Cochrane couldn’t be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her favourite genre is gay fiction, predominantly historical romances/mysteries.

Charlie’s Cambridge Fellows Series, set in Edwardian England, was instrumental in her being named Author of the Year 2009 by the review site Speak Its Name. She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People, and International Thriller Writers Inc., with titles published by Carina, Samhain, Bold Strokes Books, MLR, and Riptide.

To contact/follow Charlie Cochrane, you can do any of the following:

***
About Second Helpings
Stuart Collins’s life might as well have ended a year ago when his partner died in a car crash. Even Stuart’s widowed father has found new love with an old friend, Isabel Franklin, so why can’t Stuart be bothered to try?
Then he gets a phone call from Isabel’s son, Paul, who wants to check out whether or not Mr. Collins is good enough for his mother. During dinner together, though, they end up checking out each other. Trouble is, Paul’s got a boyfriend—or maybe he doesn’t, since the boyfriend’s supposedly giving Paul the push by ignoring him. Or maybe Paul just wants to have his cake and eat it too.
Honesty with each other is the only way to move forward. But maybe honesty with themselves is what they really need.
***

SecondHelpings_150x300Book Details:

Author: Charlie Cochrane
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62649-152-6
eBook release: Jul 21, 2014
eBook Formats: pdf, mobi, html, epub
Word count: 36,800
Page count: 146
Type: Standalone
Cover by: Amber Shah
– See more at: http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/second-helpings#sthash.ILe0FYqM.dpuf
For all the Second Helpings Tour Stops, visit Riptide Publishing.

 

 

 

Giveaway:
There’s two ways to win today! Comment below for a chance to win an ebook from my backlist (excluding Second Helpings), and a mix of summer seaside goodies! AND you can also use the link below and enter twice!
Enter the Rafflecopter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/YThmY2QyMTMwZGEwMGQ2MzU3MWZhNDI0MjFlOTM1OjE0 Rafflecopter Link
Entries close at midnight, Eastern Time, on July 29th, and winners will be announced on July 30th. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

Review: Blown Hard (Whispering Winds #3) (Pulp Friction 2014 #11) by Havan Fellows

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Blown HardRowen Smithe and Mick Rutger are men that come with their own special brand of complications and impressive set of problems attached to each of them.   Rowen Smithe wears his some complexities and special issues like clothing. But not all.  Rowen’s other problems, like the voice in his head, are more deeply buried and waiting to come out.

Mick Rutger’s sunny disposition and impetuous manner is hiding a past that he hoped he had buried when Mick came to Mountain Shadows.  Rowen Smithe, his neighbor and new love interest, has finally agreed to a dinner cooked by Mick and that is all he has been thinking about.  But the dinner and its aftermath have left a wake of new problems for them both.

While Mick is weighing his next move and Rowen is doing his best to hide, an old enemy arrives at the campground.  The winds of change are blowing strong.  Who will be left standing after the storm has passed?

In Rowen Smithe, Havan Fellows has created a character that continues to surprise me with each new layer of his persona that comes to the surface in the Whispering Winds series.  A cruel and dismissive voice in his head?  Check.  Self appointed guardian of the woods who will use any means at his disposal to keep all safe? Check.  An overwhelming need to hide from all but a few? Check.  Paranoid, competant, intelligent, and gorgeous.  But is he sane?  Hmmm.  Not sure.  He is the gift of a conundrum that keeps on giving.  And boy, does he do that in spades here.  Do I love this character?  Indeed I do.

Havan Fellows has then paired him up with as unlikely a fellow as could be.  I often think of Mick Rutger as a human Golden Retriever.  Affable, good hearted, loyal, and fun to have around, Mick’s impetuous nature can get him into trouble.  Handsome, quick to laugh, too quick to act, and an attention span that….squirrel…..that wanders.  He is almost impossible to dislike even when you are sighing in dismay over something that he has done or said.  And of all things to grab his attention, that would be the dark question mark of Mountain Shadows, Rowen Smithe.  It’s a fascinating, unlikely, and perilous combination that has made this series a compulsive read for me in every way.

For the last two stories, Fellows has kept these two unlikely mates in a fight and flee sort of pattern.  Mostly with Rowen fleeing. Whether it is into his cabin, into the woods or up his tree or all three combined, Mick has had to make the decision to follow when Rowen leads or pursue where Rowen has fled.  It’s been funny, sad, and totally entertaining.  But now a tentative peace has been obtained and Rowen has made the huge commitment to each food someone else has cooked and attend a dinner/date at Mick’s cabin that has been especially prepared for him.  To understand just how big a decision that is for Rowen, you have to read the preceding stories.  That’s how Blown Hard starts off and then quickly turns into something totally unexpected and sort of shocking when yet another dimension of Rowen is revealed to Mick and the reader.  And neither of us was prepared for it.

Fellow’s narrative is concise, taut, and it flows quickly from start to finish, barely pausing for us to gasp at the shocks along the way.  This is the darkest of all the stories to date and the most compelling to read.

This is a story of the perceived cracks in people’s characters that become exposed for the deep and camouflaged crevices they always were.  And it’s not just Rowen’s flaws and elements of his character that are exposed here but some of Mick’s as well.  This story is so well titled because Havan Fellows’s hard winds blow through the plot, scrapping away superficial notions and assumptions you have made about these people (and ones that they have made about each other) to leave something very fundamental and naked exposed at the end.  It will leave you in a state of disbelief and in immediate need for more.

I need more.  Much, much more.  So will you.  This (and the whole Pulp Friction 2014 author series) is a must read.  But please, dont’ start here.  Go running to the first book in the series.  Grab it and prepare yourself for a wonderful rollercoaster ride of emotions, romance and explosive secrets!  I have listed all the stories, all the authors and their interconnected series for 2014 below.  Use it as a check list, don’t miss out on any of them.

Definitely one of ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Highly Recommended Stories, and Series of the Year!

Cover art by Laura Harner.  I love these covers and Laura Harner has done a beautiful job of branding not only the series and all the Pulp Friction 2014 Mountain Shadows interconnected series.

Buy Links:        All Romance eBooks (ARe)             Amazon     Blown Hard

Book Details:

ebook, First, 58 pages
Published June 15th 2014 by Appleton Publishing Avenue
ASINB00L02WUR8
edition languageEnglish
seriesPulp Friction 2014 #11, Whispering Winds

The Pulp Friction 2014 series in the order they were written and should be read to understand the characters, events and plot:

Round One:

Firestorm (Fighting Fire: 1)by Laura Harner
Cold Snap (In From the Cold: 1) by Lee Brazil
Blown Away (Whispering Winds: 1) by Havan Fellows
Higher Ground (Earthquake: 1) by TA Webb

Round Two:

Controlled Burn (Fighting Fire #2) by Laura Harner
Cold Comfort (In From the Cold #2) by Lee Brazil
Blown Kisses (Whispering Winds #2) by Havan Fellows
Moving Earth (Earthquake #2) by TA Webb

Round Three:

Backburn (Fighting Fire #3) by Laura Harner
Cold Feet (In From the Cold #3) by Lee Brazil
Blown Hard (Whispering Winds #3) by Havan Fellows
Tremors (Earthquake #3) by T.A. Webb

Round Four: 

Flare-up (Fighting Fire #4) by Laura Harner
Out In The Cold (In From the Cold #4) by Lee Brazil
Blown Chance (Whispering Winds #4) by Havan Fellows
Aftershocks (Earthquake #4) by T.A. Webb

Round Five: to be released

Radiant Burn (Fighting Fire #5) by Laura Harner
Cold Day in Hell (In From the Cold #5) by Lee Brazil
Final Blow (Whispering Winds #5) by Havan Fellows
Terra Firma (Earthquake #5) by T.A. Webb

Sixth Book Series Finale Written by all the Authors
charactersFinn Lorensso

 

 

 

 

Review: The Rusted Sword by R.D. Hero

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The Rusted Sword coverAfter ten years of marriage, Lord Raleigh’s union to the vicious fighter Prince Moshe has become mired in endless arguments, uncertainty, and finally separate chambers.  A love once hot as the fire is now becoming cold and Raleigh is afraid for their future.  A proud man, Raleigh is now beset by pain from old injuries, unable to wield his swords as he once did, the same swordwork that captured the heart and passions of his husband Moshe.

After yet another argument ruins the moment between them, Raleigh learns that Moshe has accepted an invitation to participate in a winter sword fighting tournament.  It will take place in the castle on order from the king, a ruler overly fond of Moshe from Raleigh’s perspective.  Fearing that Moshe will away rather than return to the small holdings deep in the mountains, Raleigh chooses to accept as well.  Raleigh believes might be his last chance to win back Moshe’s love.  But can a man bound by pride and age find it in himself to win one more battle?  That of the only thing he wants….Moshe’s love.

The Rusted Sword by R.D. Hero is a well written short story that encapsulates the problems of one couple’s marriage.  That the couple is located in a fantasy world of snowbound keeps and a kingdom where swordplay and tournaments go hand in hand doesn’t alter the fact that most couples issues stem from the same problems.  A lack of attention to each other, a shutting down of communication and a walling away of self from your partner.  Those relationship truths exist no matter the genre or couple or even universe.

Raleigh (cousin to the King) was once a heralded swordsman.  He was famous for winning battles and tournements and by his talents, he won the heart of Moshe, a prince sent to the King from another country as hostage/good faith.  A playmate and friend of both the King and Raleigh as children, Raleigh loved him from the start and pursued him relentlessly once they were grown.  It’s been 10 years since Raleigh won Moshe’s heart and they were married and their marriage is now cold , filled with self imposed loneliness and pain.  The author makes us feel every bit of Raleigh’s years.  His aching knee, his age, and his fears that being less than what he once was has cost him Moshe’s love.  That it’s Raleigh’s pride that is also pushing Moshe away is apparent to the reader although not Raleigh himself.  Hero makes us hurt for both men even as we are exasperated by Raleigh’s actions.  It is a poignant picture Hero paints of a union in trouble, realistic in the pained dialog and long awkward silences.

An invitation acts as the impetus for a change in the relationship.  A trip, a tournament and an old friend’s actions brings about a sea change.  How that happens and the world building by Hero are some of the real joys of this short story. I thought everything here was so well done from the characterizations to the plot to the visualizations of the halls and trappings themselves.   While I wish I had a little more of the history between Raleigh and his cousin, it still came across as a  complete story instead of an interlude pulled from a much larger tale.

The Rusted Sword was a first story for me by R. D. Hero but it won’t be the last.  It’s tiny gems like this one that surprise me and makes me seek out more from an author.  That will happen here.  Love fantasy and short stories too?  Grab this one up, its just the thing for you.

Nice cover art, not sure who the artist is.

Buy Links:  Less Than Three Press               All Romance (ARe)    to come                Amazon  to come

Book Details:

ebook, 14,000 words, approx. 31 pages
Expected publication: August 27th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC
original titleThe Rusted Sword
ISBN139781620044049
edition languageEnglish

Review: Strength of the Mate (The Tameness of the Wolf #3) by Kendall McKenna

Rating: 4.5  stars out of 5

Strength of the Mate coverAdam Madison, convoy driver for the military contractor Ares in Iraq, is a good man suffering under a ton of issues.  Younger brother to Major Tim Madison, a officer assigned to werewolf military, Adam has long association of resentment of his brother and poor judgement calls he has made throughout his life. Plus the death of his youngest brother has continued to haunt him. Now assigned to Camp Fallujah, Adam is driving supply trucks for the Marines.  But things are tense at the camp.  The werewolves stationed there lack discipline and the Camp Alpha seems to reward bad behavior instead of controlling and dispelling it with his authority.  It’s affecting morale and their mission.

When Noah sends his Omega, Dawson Rivers, to get the camp and the shifters under control, Dawson finds that Adam helps him understand the conflicts inside and out of the camp.  Their old attraction flares up again as they work closely together to bring order back to Camp Fallujah.  But Adam has had little contact with shifters before and he lacks the necessary information and back history to understand all the issues at stake, including what Dawson’s actions towards him means.

As their relationship strengthens into a bond, the insurgents up their attacks on the Camp and the convoys.  When one such ambush succeeds, the end result is devastating. Only through Dawson and Adam’s bond might their relationship and each other survive.

Strength of the Mate, the third in The Tameness of the Wolf series by Kendall McKenna, brings back a divisive character from the previous stories, Adam Madison, Tim Madison’s younger brother.  In the last story, Strength of the Wolf, Adam’s scenes with his brother were full of anger, jealousy, and pain.  Long estranged from Tim, Adam’s actions were often petulant and explosive.  And while the reader was given part of the back history of Adam’s problems, it didn’t exactly make him a likable character.  Now he gets his own story and the switch in perspective changes everything.

I love Kendall McKenna’s characters.  Steeped in military tradition and settings, they always come across as gritty and real.  Adam is no exception.  He is cool under fire, fueled by adrenaline, and proud of his capabilities.  Adam has grown up in Iraq, and the long distance and his missions have given him a new slant on his brother and their relationship.  But the one thing they do not have in common is Tim’s close association and knowledge of shifters..  Adam works with them at Marine Corps Base Camp Fallujah, Fallujah, Iraq but the Camp Alpha has everything in such turmoil that Adam isn’t sure what and how a were should act.  As seen from Adam’s eyes, the Camp is as dangerous a place as the insurgent controlled outskirts of town.  Weres are fighting other weres, and harassing the human Marines as well.  It’s a horrible situation, one that Adam flees while he drives his truck.

Into this mess strides Dawson Rivers, the True Alpha’s Omega.  Sent to get the camp under control, what happens almost instantaneously is that the attraction between Adam and Dawson reignites as soon as they do.  Having met previously back in the States, working together to restructure the Camp and  out on the convoys, their attraction deepens into first a connection and then a bond.  It’s sexy, complicated and at times, uncertain but the author  always lets the reader know  that these men are intended for each other.

With Kendall McKenna, its hard to separate her men from their locations as it is so much a part of who they are as Marines or in Adam’s case, a military convoy driver.  McKenna’s descriptions are tight, gritty, and authentic in detail and atmosphere.  You can feel the blazing sun and the dust from the desert sands of Camp Fallujah.  The small showers, the cots and mess, they all are so vividly described that scene after scene pulls you down into their experiences and makes it yours.  Going about their duties in camp are a host of human and shifter Marines that play a number of important roles in Strength of the Mate.  Whether it is Corporal Jason Rodriguez, the young shifter who rides guard with Adam in the truck or Private First Class Roger Allen, as well as Lance Corporal Will Borovec, a shifter who gets picked on, you embrace these young Marines the more  you get to know them.  Kendall McKenna has paid as much attention to getting these  secondary characters right as she does to her main ones. Each is a marvelous portrait of a youngster at war. Some are cocky, a little arrogant, some like to kid around, others not so much.  But their actions and reactions to the situations they find themselves are recognizable and it makes them all easy to relate to.  How I love these guys, every single one.

The romance and bonding of Adam and Dawson is the center thread of this tapestry and it runs passionate and bright through all the turmoil at Camp, the insurgents whose actions are increasingly putting the convoys and the Marine’s mission in danger, and all the other elements McKenna has introduced into the plot.  It helps to introduce Adam to more of the shifter history, it gives him a better perspective on Tim and his mate, Jeremy, and it provides a needed solace to his old pain.  I wish we had a little more of Dawson’ s internal thinking and emotions but I loved what the author delivered to us.  Dawson is amazing.  Although, I did find myself wishing that his “violet eyes” had been mentioned a little less throughout the narrative.  That was my only issue here. Had the author cut back on the epithets for Dawson’s eye color, than this would have been a five star story.  As it is, that issue is a minor irritation, nothing more.  And others may find it doesn’t bother them at all.

There is already another story in the works, Strength of the Warrior (The Tameness of the Wolf, #4).  I can’t wait for that to come out.  Kendall McKenna has created an amazing soldier shifter universe here and with each new story, she strengthens and deepens her world building and the incredible characters that are so much a part of this series.  I loved Adam and Dawson.  Their story was alternately, gripping, suspenseful, lusty, and romantic.  Or sometimes all at the same time.  I couldn’t put it down.  Strength of the Mate is one of ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Favorites and Most Highly Recommended Stories and Series.

Cover Art by Jared Rackler.  Love this cover, hot, hot, hot!

 

Buy Links:      MLR Press            All Romance (ARe)                Amazon      Strength of the Mate

 

Book Details:

ebook, 356 pages
Published June 20th 2014 by MLR Press (first published June 2014)
original titleStrength of the Mate
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Tameness of the Wolf #3
charactersAdam Madison, Dawson Rivers, Tim Madison, Lucas Young, Noah Hammond

Books in The Tameness of the Wolf series include in the order they were written and should be read:

Strength of the Pack (The Tameness of the Wolf, #1)
Strength of the Wolf (The Tameness of the Wolf, #2)
Strength of the Mate (The Tameness of the Wolf, #3)
Strength of the Warrior (The Tameness of the Wolf, #4) coming soon at MLR Press.

Book Blast: Diana DeRicci’s Not Quite Broken Book Tour/Contest

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Not Quite Broken New sq bannerOn Tour with

Diana DeRicci’s Not Quite Broken

 

 

Diana DeRicci’s is here today with an excerpt and contest for her new release “Not Quite Broken”.  To enter to win an eBook copy of Not Quite Broken and to read the blurb and excerpt, keep reading!

 

 

 

 

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Book Name: Not Quite Broken
Author Name: Diana DeRicci
Author Bio: Diana DeRicci is the sexy, flirty pen name of Diana Castilleja. A romance author at heart, DeRicci’s writing takes you into a saucier spectrum of sensuality and sexual adventure, where a happily-ever-after is still the key to any story. Diana lives in Central Texas with her husband, one son and a feisty little Chihuahua named Rascal. You can catch the latest news on all of Diana DeRicci’s writing and books on her website. Feel free to drop Diana an email. She’d love to hear from you.

Author Links:

NotQuiteBroken_432Cover Artist: Lex Valentine
Publisher: MLR Press

Sales Links:   MLR Press LLC

“Not Quite Broken” Blurb:

Can Dex survive a nightmare that won’t let go?

Dex’s life has gone into a tailspin. One night that ruined his entire world. He can’t sleep, he can’t eat. He’s lost his job, and is about to lose the last of his sanity. When the world crashes down around him, he’s ready to let the world win.

Dex has friends, though, who are determined to not let him self-combust.

One man will be there to guide him through his nightmare, to hold him to keep the demons at bay, and still let him be strong enough to find the strength to love after his darkest hour.

 

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Excerpt:

Brian tempered his smile at Dex’s miffed tone. There was still a spark of the man he was before the night of his attack. He’d seen it in snatches for a few days when Dex was trying so hard to pretend that night hadn’t happened at all, especially when they were at Chad and Sonny’s. He knew with good insight Dex didn’t want either of them to worry. Then life started to return and invade and the nightmares began. Doctors, police, therapy. He couldn’t outrun them. The stress of it caused nightmares. He didn’t know if any of Dex’s other friends, who seemed to be sparse, were equipped to help him handle the aftermath.

That lack of family or friends in his life was partly why Brian had taken such a personal interest in Dex’s recovery.

He was being devious about it, taking Dex on these little errands, putting him in situations where he couldn’t evade. Brian wasn’t going to allow anyone to hurt him, least of all Dex himself, by hiding.

He opened the glass entryway door and Dex obediently followed.

“Hi, Samantha,” Brian called to the girl behind the counter. He got a wave and smile, though he didn’t slow down to talk.

“It’s loud in here,” Dex complained.

“It’s a gym, not the ballet.”


NQBBadge RevisedTour Dates: 7/18/14

Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Cate Ashwood, MM Good Book Reviews, Havan Fellows, Reviews and Ramblings, LeAnn’s Book Reviews, Smoocher’s Voice, Prism Book Alliance, Tara Lain, Love Bytes, Hearts on Fire, Fallen Angel Reviews, Wicked Wolves and Dreaming Dragons, It’s Raining Men,  Because Two Men Are Better Than One

 

Contest:  Rafflecopter Prize: E-book of Not Quite Broken.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Use the Rafflecopter link below for all the contest details and entry form.  Contest and prizes provided by Pride Promotions and the author.

Rafflecopter Link:

a Rafflecopter giveaway