In the Author Spotlight: Jim Provenzano

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ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to host Jim Provenzano today, talking about his latest release, Message of Love, the sequel to the Lambda Literary Award winning, Every Time I Think of You.

Giveaway: Jim has brought with him a Kindle ebook copy of Every Time I Think of You to give away today along with a copy of Message of Love to a 2nd winner. To enter to win, leave a comment below as well as your email address so you can be contacted. We would also appreciate it if you left your Amazon email address in the body of the comment to make it easier to send the book to you as it is a Kindle edition. Contest closes 4/19. Thanks.

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Getting It Right, the Second Time Around

by Jim Provenzano

When I started writing my fourth novel Every Time I Think of You, the first few chapters came to me in a dream in January 2011. I’d already had a few other novels nearly completed, but the story of Reid and Everett basically took over my life.

After finishing it in early December of that year, I agreed with the almost unanimous suggestion of friends who had read early drafts, and cut an epilogue where Reid and Everett are living ‘happily ever after’ as college roommates in Philadelphia. I realized that the last chapter was actually a draft treatment for a sequel. What happens after the rush of romance concludes with the blossoming of love? Well, a lot happens.

In the sequel, Message of Love, Reid and Everett attend separate universities in Philadelphia. While Everett’s studies focus on politics and world affairs, Reid remains devoted to his Forestry studies. And while the symbolic aspect of the City of Brotherly Love offers new adventures for them, the urban environs tests their relationship, and in particular, Reid’s once heartfelt passion for nature.

I prepared for my new novel, Message of Love, with funds generated from a small yet successful 2012 Kickstarter project. The week before attending the Lambda Literary Awards in New York City, where Every Time I Think of You won the Lammy for Gay Romance, I spent a week in Philadelphia. Combining my journalism experience with a bit of adventurous tourism, I researched the campuses, the city and Fairmont Park, where most scenes are set.

I also spent several days in the archives at both Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and at the Philadelphia Public Library, where I scanned issues of the Philadelphia Gay News, converting page after page into saved PDFs. I even found a house where the fictional version of an apartment would become their home.

Numerous personal interviews with current and former Philadelphia and Greensburg residents, and graduates of Penn and Temple, led to an insightful perspective on the novel’s setting. Sometimes a single detail or correction would lead to an entire chapter revision. But what surprised me were how often real-life events aligned with the story I had already outlined.

I spent months researching the disability issues relating to Everett’s experience, both from the perspective of a paraplegic and someone who loves him. Personal interviews with wheelchair users led to new insights into their daily lives.

As a former professional dancer, one of the most inspirational aspects came from other dancers. Like my first novel, PINS, about high school wrestlers, I took my own physical experience as a sort of muscle memory. By watching and talking with a wonderfully talented dancer and a choreographer from the Oakland, California AXIS Dance Company, I was able to feel and visualize the practicality and athleticism of a young active paraplegic.

But with a specific time frame, thirty years ago, I didn’t have the advantage of relying on contemporary aspects of disability. I bought several books from that era, specific to the limitations of the early 1980s, before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, and before most sidewalks and buildings were made accessible.

As with Every Time I Think of You, the story is written from Reid’s point of view and his attempts to comprehend and understand Everett’s challenges. Despite being a pair of romance novels, I worked within the popular genre while crafting a decidedly new approach. I also read many gay and straight romance books with disabled characters. Some of them were touching and sweet. Some were uninformed and misguided.

But at the same time, while I endeavored to ‘get it right’ about such a relationship, I kept asking myself, ‘Is this a Romance?’ Reid and Everett are already boyfriends. The quest of finding love has been achieved. Their new challenge is to sustain their love through some separation. Veering from the standard romance, they live together for most of the story.

With the advantage of having already established the love between Reid and Everett, I faced new challenges with an historic time and urban setting, placed against the encroaching threat of a plague.

Many contemporary romances quickly dispense with AIDS and other difficult issues, and that’s fine. That is the decision of other authors, to make a fun, sexy escapist story. But having set this sequel after the ‘halcyon’ days of the late 1970s, when being gay wasn’t a big problem in some communities, the sequel would have to deal with realities of the era in which I came of age; infidelity, identity, and the growing, then unnamed, epidemic.

A major symbol, a small evergreen tree, served as an actual gift in Every Time I Think of You. For Message of Love, a single ivy leaf, used on the book’s cover, becomes a significant gift of apology in a crucial moment when Everett and Reid’s relationship is at its most fragile. Yet Everett’s life as a paraplegic is not a mere metaphor, but a realistic aspect of his life that’s given a thorough focus.

In the first book, the two young men’s time together is sporadic and passionate. In the sequel, their extended time together offers a new perspective on moving beyond the initial rush of first love, and growing toward a stronger form based on trust.

This four-year ‘distraction’ has led to creating two of the most endearing characters I’ve created. I really grew to love these guys, and I hope readers will, too.
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Author Bio:

Jim Provenzano is the author of the novels PINS, Monkey Suits, Cyclizen, the 2012 Lambda Literary Award-winning Every Time I Think of You, its sequel Message of Love, and the stage adaptation of PINS.

A journalist in LGBT media for two decades, and the guest curator of Sporting Life, the world’s first gay athletics exhibit, he also wrote the syndicated Sports Complex column for ten years. Currently the Assistant Arts Editor at the Bay Area Reporter, he also edits its weekly BARtab nightlife section.

For more information on Jim Provenzano’s books, visit

Watch the book trailer, which features a performance of Dudley Saunders singing “Message of Love,” the title song (by The Pretenders), and enjoy the companion video playlists for Message of Love, Every Time I Think of You and PINS on Jim Provenzano’s YouTube channel:

March 2014 – Summary of Reviews and Best Covers

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March 2014 Review Summary

*Key:
S series
C contemporary
F-fantasy
SF-science fiction
PN-paranormal
SP-supernatural
H-historical
HR-horror
N-Nonfiction
YA-young adult

Rating Scale: 1 to 5, 5 stars is outstanding

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5 Star Rating:

Blown Away (Whispering Winds #1) by Havan Fellows (PF2014) C

4 to 4.75 Star Rating:

Ball & Chain (Cut & Run #8) by Abigail Roux, (4.5) C, S
Come To Me by Megan Derr (4), F, S
Convergence by Talya Andor (4 stars) SP
Every Inch of the Way (The Professor’s Rule #4) by Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormley (4.5) C, S
Firestorm (Fighting Fire #1) by Laura Harner (4.5)PF2014, C
Free Falling (Extreme Escapes, LLD) by S.E. Jakes (4.75) C, S
Higher Ground (Earthquake #1) by T.A. Webb (4.75) PF2014, C
Know Not Why by Hannah Johnson (4.5) C
Song of the Spring Moon Waning by E.E. Ottoman (4.75) F,H
The Oracle’s Hatchling (The Oracle #2) by Mell Eight (4), F, S
To the Very Last Inch (The Professor’s Rule #5) by Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormley (4.5) C,S
3 to 3.75 Star Rating:

Angel’s Hero (Angel #1) by Liz Borino (3.25) C, S
Artist’s Touch (Guild #1) by Kerry Adrienne (3.75 stars) C, S
King of Dublin by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau (3.75) SF
Riding Tall (The Fall #2) by Kate Sherwood (3.75)
The Oracle’s Flame (The Oracle #1) by Mell Eight (3.75) F, S

2 to 2.75 Star Rating:

Hunter by Blood by Robin White (2.75) SN

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Best Covers of March 2014

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Ball & Chain, cover art by LC Chase
Free Falling, cover art by Croco Designs
Song of the Spring Moon Waning, artist Aisha Akeju
Know Not Why, artist unknown
To the Very Last Inch, cover artist LC Chase
Blown Away standing in for all the Pulp Friction 2014 covers by Laura Harner

Review: Every Time I Think of You by Jim Provenzano

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect.
Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.”
– Alice Walker

It’s winter, 1978 in the small town of Greensburg,Pennsylvania and for teenager Reid Coniff everything is about to change. The woods are calling him out into the night and snow. Not exactly to admire nature, although Reid does that too. But the thin walls of his house make it almost impossible for a teenage boy to find sexual release and these woods are a perfect place for privacy. Or so Reid thinks. Because after a short hike, Reid comes across another boy with the exact same purpose on the mind.

Everett Forrester, scion of the Forrester family who founded their town, has come to the woods around Forrestville, a wealthy community, that separates the rich from the rest of the citizens of Greensburg, to escape his family and have a moment of sexual self pleasure. With divorced parents, home now consists mostly of a controlling mother, a housekeeper who is more friend and ally than servant, and a beloved sister who lives in Pittsburgh far outside the sphere of his family and their wealth. Everett is not prepared for the tall, lanky boy that finds him almost naked in the woods, in the middle of masturbing. But one sloppy wet kiss later, both boys find release and a new destiny together.

What follows that remarkable meeting is a relationship that grows and deepens over time. It didn’t matter that townie Reid attended the local public high school or that wealthy Everett attended a prestigious prep school just outside Forrestville, the next months found them constantly together. Trips to visit Everett’s sister Holly is Pittsburgh served as a way to be alone, exploring their newly discovered passion for each other and sex. They share their hopes, their dreams and their problems and their relationship deepens even as they hid who and what they were to each other.

High school is still such a difficult time made more so by a first love and being in the closet. Everett and Reid have not only to deal with hiding their relationship but the fact that they come from two very different backgrounds and two diverging views of their future. Most couples have only a few obstacles to overcome, but Everett and Reid face the most daunting obstacle of all when an accident on the playing field changes their lives forever.

Every Time I Think of You by Jim Provenzano is a true revelation. I have read many coming of age stories. And I have also read just as many coming out stories but none of them have the depth, texture and power of Every Time I Think of You. Winner of the Lambda Literary Award in 2012, this is storytelling at its most intimate and perceptive.

The journey of Reid and Everett will make you hark back to your own adolescence, it will make you laugh and cringe in acknowledgement of the trials and tribulations of high school and the throes of a first love. This elegant and moving tale will pull forth all feelings possible when we remember what it felt like to be young and in love for the first time. In the telling, the author and his characters ask for our understanding and get it by the descriptions and in the remembrances of being young. For the very bravery of youth itself in its outlook and optimism and the pain that experience and time often inflicts. Even now I want to reach for that book again and start at page 1 as Reid embarks on his journey once more into the woods where he will meet Everett and his future.

The characters Provenzano created for his story are remarkable for their complexity and authenticity as children of the 70’s. With all the references we would expect from the late 70’s Jim Provenzano frames out his setting and time period and puts the reader into the mind and heart of Reid Coniff, a teenager of the threshold of an explosion of self discovery in 1978. Our narrator is a product of a loving family in a small town in Pennsylvania. Reid is that extraordinary voice that strikes a recognizable note in all readers. He is introspective with a passion for plants and nature in general. He knows what he wants to do with his life and has the support he needs from his parents. But that one night in the forest changes everything for him. Here is a small excerpt just as Reid ventures into the woods in chapter one:

Entering the edge of the small woods, I felt warmer and secure. I’d rarely encountered other people in that small expanse of trees and its charming creek, which is why I’d long considered it my own private refuge.

A thick blanket of snow lay at my feet, sleeves of it bending the limbs of shrubs. Bluish whites contrasted the dark limbs of the evergreen branches above.

Further in, the snow under the tall evergreens was softer, quieting my footsteps as I encountered something unexpected; a pair of grey sweatpants and a green parka hanging on a tree limb.

Then I saw him.

The following scene beautifully delivers the urgency of youth, and the first fumblings at sex. It’s delivers the realistic joy of the first sexual discovery with another person and the shyness that comes after their first kiss and sexual release. It’s that moment where Reid thinks for the first time “Where the hell have you been all these years?”

And then you remember that these boys are only seventeen with their life spread out before them, and that thought becomes one of wonder but also of the pain because we realize how much of life is still before them.

And you are not even out of the first chapter.

Everett Forrester’s voice feels so true to that age and time period. It’s full of bravado and charm and yet it hides so much feeling and insecurities that you find yourself falling in love with him as much as Reid. The combination of these two young men, so full of life and the awkwardness of youth, is both captivating and painful. We watch them venturing out of their self described roles and into a journey of personal growth, love, and sexual discovery. A time when all their futures are full of the impossible and where they will always be together.

And from our remembered perspectives, their jubilant bravado and youthful innocence is received with the understanding and compassion of age, letting us relate to and empathize with these young men on their journey together with all its attending highs and lows.

Provenzano doesn’t shy away from the warts and issues of the times and of being a teenager during that era, homophobia included. Nor does he gloss over the brutal facts of the impact that a debilitating accident has on these boys,their families and their budding romantic relationship. Everett’s accident is one that almost singularly destroys Everett and Reid’s relationship as well as Everett’s dreams for his future. It is one that can happen on any playing field across America, this time it just happened to Everett. That doesn’t make it any easier to accept for Everett, Reid or their families. Or for the reader for that matter.

The story ends in the winter of 1979. Less than a year has passed but somehow it feels as though I have walked miles and lived years with these boys. This amazing narrative, at times honest, tender, and raw, has left me so well acquainted with their characters, that to see the end actually hurt. And that’s after 266 pages. Reid is now at Temple University in Philadelphia. And Everett? Well, that joy of discovery awaits you within these pages.

And it doesn’t end here. The sequel, Message of Love, continues Reid and Everett journey into adulthood and their possible future together. But first there is Every Time I Think of You, an evocative and immensely powerful “coming-of-age” tale so compelling in its truth that you won’t want to put it down. The strong adolescent voice that is Reid Coniff, wise ,uncertain, tentative and brave. It is the voice of a 17 year old…so full of everything it means to be 17. It is real, painfully so at times. Reid will entice you back to his story and that of the young man he loves with all his heart. And Everett with the burdens and struggles to come will hold fast to your heart, never to let go.

This is one of ScatteredThoughts Best of 2014. Go, get it now and start your journey along with Reid and Everett into their future. Trust me, this story is one that will always stay with you, heart deep and full of love.

Cover Art; Getty Images. Used with permission. Cover Design: Kurt Thomas. Cover is simple and elegant and references a major element in their story.

Every Time I Think of You
Message of Love (sequel)

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 266 pages
Published November 26th 2011 by CreateSpace/Myrmidude Press
ASINB006EVNCJK
edition languageEnglish
literary awardsLambda Literary Award 2012

Buy Links: Amazon also at Barnes & Noble (nook)

Review: In Distress (Superpowered Love #6) by Katey Hawthorne

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Hopeless romantic and total geek Eddie Kim continues to dream that his knight in shining armor will show up one day to carry him away for a beautiful future together. But until that happens, Eddie hangs out with his best friends Kavita and Stacy playing D & D, moons over GoT’s Jon Snow and dreams of new scribblings for Morning Gloria’s sandwich board, the beanery where he is a barista. Life is pretty good for an adorable 23 year old, just not perfect. Then Eddie’s apartment catches fire and everything changes.

When Eddie’s kitchen catches fire, the smoke and fumes threaten to overwhelm Eddie. But Eddie is saved when strong cold arms lift him up and out of danger and a freezing cold puts the fire out. His rescuer? A gorgeous unknown red head who asks that Eddie not reveal his rescuer’s presence. One kiss later, then Eddie’s knight in shining frost disappears, leaving a stunned and coughing Eddie behind.

What’s a smitten boy to do when his longed for knight saves him only to disappear? Why look for him of course. Eddie’s friends look to craiglist to relocate his hero but the publicity is just the thing his hero was trying to avoid.

Callum, a mysterious red-head with freezing superpowers, couldn’t help saving Eddie but now he has put not only Eddie but himself in danger. Callum Race has come to Columbus to try and clear his family name, and now the dangerous superpowered organization he needs to thwart know he’s come home again. But the attraction he feels towards Eddie is anything but cold. And the more they see of each other, the stronger the connection gets.

Soon its a race against time for Callum and Eddie. Callum determined to clear his brother’s name and Eddie equally determined to help Callum fight. As the danger increases who is the knight and who is the “damsel in distress” is anyone’s guess.

I am going to admit right up front that I am a big time fan of Katey Hawthorne’s Superpowered Love series. So hearing about the release of In Distress brought a sense of anticipation and joy that soon I would be plunged back into a world of elemental beings and their search for some Superpowered Love. Hawthorne’s In Distress, part of Loose Id’s Missed Connections collection does not disappoint on any level, starting with her wonderful and totally adorable characters.

Now Eddie Kim would totally own that “adorable” appellation, particularly if it didn’t come with a gender attached to it. Eddie sees gender somewhat differently than others do, less rigidly defined and certainly more open to interpretation. At the moment, he identifies as male but that might change at any moment. Eddie wants others to respect that about him, knowing that his gender fluid appearance is one that can confuse those that aren’t familiar with him. I liked this aspect of Eddie’s character, it gave Eddie a deeper dimension, that combined with the other elements of his persona, made Eddie a wonderful unique individual. He’s highly intelligent and super romantic. At 23, Eddie still dreams of “The One”, a Knight that will save him, albeit not from dragons but from a loveless existence. And then Eddie gets what he has been dreaming for and ,of course, it’s far more than he ever expected.

Eddie, his friends Kavita and Stacy, as well as Callum, are all such terrific characters. Just when you might be feeling a little, oh I don’t know, perhaps, dubious at Eddie’s exuberance and “tilting at windmills” sort of behavior, then you have Kavita and Stacy there as your standin’s, saying exactly what you would say to Eddie, to bring him back down to reality. Only to realize a few paragraphs later that Eddie’s new reality is kind of out of this world, or too much of this world. Katey Hawthorne moves us back and forth in an emotional whirlwind with Eddie as the story is told from his very exuberant and delightful point of view.

And then there’s Callum Race, currently on the outs from all the Superpowered groups, unable to come home because of his brother’s actions and death. I have always found the Superpowered subculture that Katey Hawthorne has created for this series fascinating, especially it’s divisive cultural quandary of whether or not to stay hidden from the human populace. Which side of the question you come down on essentially makes you either a upstanding member of the Superpowered community or an outcast and potential rebel. This theme flows through all the stories and is an important one of In Distress as well.

There are plenty of action packed scenes as well as ones of intimacy and introspection to balance out each other. I did wish that Callum and Eddie had more time together before things got totally out of control. And for those of you who are new to the Superpowered Love series, some of the backhistory might feel a bit lacking. But how can you resist passages or characters like this?

“You’re okay. Just come with me,” said the voice attached to the hands.

My feet slipped on inexplicable ice. The strong, gloved hands steadied me, and the voice said, “Shit, sorry.” Then my feet were wet, but it wasn’t so slippery, and I could walk.

And some guy in a black hoodie and leather gloves led me out of my smoke-filled apartment in the middle of the night. As we turned in to the hallway, flame flared up at the end. He held out a gloved hand. By the firelight, I saw frost spread in a flash over the wall and floor, snuffing out the flames.

I shivered again and decided I was still dreaming. And if I took this guy’s hood off, it was clearly going to be Jon Snow. Maybe I should jump on his back?

He tugged me out onto the rattly wrought-iron porch and started down the equally rattly stairs. He was tall, taller than me— which isn’t saying much, but still— with broad shoulders and slim hips. It was a perfect swimmer’s build, but he moved like he didn’t realize it, with an almost adolescent awkwardness. “Don’t you have a fire alarm?”

“It needs a battery,” I said, dazed. There was a small streetlight in the parking lot below, and the moon was out, and all I could smell was melting plastic. Now my brain was finally waking up. Oh God, this is real. My apartment was on fire— is on fire— was on fire, and this guy put it out with… What the hell did he just do? Who the hell is he? Oh my God, this is not Jon Snow!

“Well, consider getting one.” The voice was mild and somehow equally awkward but far from adolescent. “I’ll call you an ambulance. I have to get out of—”

But I wasn’t having that crap, by then. Adrenaline had belatedly kicked in, and I grabbed for his arm and spun him.

He was pale, possibly with a sprinkling of freckles, but I couldn’t see his hair under the hood. I could see his lips, palest pink and plump, especially the bottom one, which looked like someone had bitten it hard and the swelling had never gone down. Nice bone structure too— nothing supermodel or delicate, but hard, straight lines and angles. For some reason it made me think: Football hooligan? He was pretty, but the kind of pretty that’d still be scary in a fight.

And he’d probably just saved my life. I had a million questions (chiefly: Why the hell were you in my apartment— when it was on fire?), but my heart was racing with the sudden acknowledgement of my own ridiculous mortality. I had somehow forgotten the words thank you. So I grabbed the front of his hoodie, went up on my toes, and kissed him.

Because that’s what the damsel in distress does when he gets rescued from the tower, right?

And right there I was in love. In love with the lonely and brave Callum and his quest for justice and in love with that delectably over the top voice and personality that could only belong to Eddie Kim. Knight found his mate. But who really rescued who is something you will have to find out for yourself.

Of course, Katey Hawthorne throws in mentions of Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, Game of Thrones, Spider Man and so many other present day references that help clue us into who Eddie and his friends are, a cultural shortcut that let’s us secure these characters as real people almost instantly in our minds. If you need more information about these characters, visit Katey Hawthorne’s In Distress page at her website. It has character stats and back history on the Superpowered Love series.

A special bonus resides at the end of the story. An In Distress playlist for your enjoyment that will also add to a better understanding of these characters and background. Just one more reason to get this story. Not that you need one. In Distress and all the Superpowered Love stories are must reads for me. The Superpowered Love stories are fun, sexy romps. A fascinating as watching lighting in a storm or as mesmerizing as lightning bugs in a bottle. And all are full of memorable characters so sexy and full of life that you won’t want to see them leave, including Eddie and Callum from In Distress.

Don’t pass this up.

And watch out for the sandwich board sayings….they are quite wonderful too. See? Win, win and win.

Cover art by P.L. Nunn who has created the wonderful covers for all the stories in this series. It works, and its adorable.

Book Details:

Part of Loose Id’s Missed Connections Collection.
ebook
Published March 25th 2014 by Loose Id LLC
ISBN139781623006112
edition languageEnglish
url for all Things Katey Hawthorne http://www.kateyhawthorne.com
series Superpowered Love
settingColumbus, Ohio (United State

Books in the Superpowered Love series in the order they were written and should be read:

Equilibrium (Superpowered Love, #1)
Jealousy: A Love Story (Superpowered Love, #1.1)
Best Gift Ever (Superpowered Love, #1.2)
Riot Boy (Superpowered Love, #2)
Willoughby Spit (Superpowered Love, #2.1)
Nobody’s Hero (Superpowered Love, #3)
Losing Better (Superpowered Love, #4)
Re-Entry Burn (Superpowered Love, #5)
In Distress (Superpowered Love, #6)

Review: Cold Comfort (In From the Cold #2) by Lee Brazil

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Professor Finn Lorensson has worked hard to get close to his prickly co worker and neighbor, Cannon Malloy, and now it seems he is starting to succeed in getting to know Cannon no matter how hard Cannon works to thwart him. Finn is convinced that Cannon is the man for him, now to convince Cannon.

Cannon Malloy fled Atlanta thinking that he could start over again, living his life as an out gay man. But all Cannon’s fears and traumatic past have followed him, making it almost impossible to open him self up to the idea of a new man and a new romance. Slowly, Finn Lorensson has made him accept the idea that he could find love again.

But someone from Finn’s past poses a problem for Finn that will impact his career and fragile new relationship that he has pursued with Cannon. With two men confronting the demons from their past, is a future together even remotely possible?

Ah, poor Cannon Malloy. Not even a fresh start in Flagstaff can prevent him from wanting to return to Atlanta and the people he left there. And even if Cannon is not sure they even miss him. He can’t bring himself to move forward emotionally and he can’t go back. So he’s stuck. And Lee Brazil makes us not only understand Cannon’s position but feel for him as well. It doesn’t matter whether his problems are self-inflicted (some are) or a matter of poor timing (some of those are too), we have all been there at some point in our lives. And can access those old memories and feelings through the character of Cannon.

Finn Lorensson is a somewhat more problematic character for me. He just seems so great. He’s considerate and tender of Cannon and Cannon’s prickly defensive nature. I like that about him. But maybe he just seems to much the gentle giant. At least by his handling of a delicate matter. Or it just could be that we haven’t seen that side of him yet. We get Cannon, he’s a known factor. Not so much Finn. And that is one of the things I love about this series, the slow reveal, the torturous climb to romance and love. Nothing has ever been easy for Cannon and it looks to remain that way. Just as we think Cannon is going to give into his impulses, something happens to shatter that small forward movement, halting any progress he may have made and throwing Cannon back into his shell.

Yep, that happens here. And no, I won’t tell you how. I will say that it ends on a bit of a bombshell as the Top Gear guys would have it. Brazil has lead us up to this moment, building our hopes for Finn and Cannon one small delectable morsel at a time. I mean really, there is a cooking/dinner scene that is quite heady in its erotic buildup. Finn knows what he wants, Cannon is afraid of what he wants, and that is an anticipatory and wonderful recipe for romance. Or it should be. Sigh.

The pages of Cold Comfort just flew by. The writing is fast paced, the narrative so smooth and lively that I was astonished at how quickly I was finished. And then I was ready for more. But I fear a little wait is in store for me and the characters here. How I love this new Pulp Friction 2014 group series and In From the Cold in particular. Cannon is turning into quite the favorite of mine, something I never would have suspected would happen given his role in last year’s series. Ah, surprises, they are wonderful things….mostly.

So grab this story up if you are familiar with the series and the whole Pulp Friction experience. If you are new to PF2014 and any of the series involved, return to the first stories in Round One and watch how quickly you become addicted. I know I am. Consider this one of Scattered Thoughts must reads for 2014!

Cover art by Laura Harner. Love that model, perfect in every way.

Book Details:

ebook
Published April 1st 2014 by Lime Time Press
ISBN LBRZL02014
edition languageEnglish
seriesIn From the Cold #2
charactersFinn Lorensson, C

Round One of Pulp Friction 2014:

Firestorm (Fighting Fire# 1) by Laura Harner
Cold Snap (In From the Cold# 1) by Lee Brazil
Blown Away (Where the Wind Blows# 1) by Havan Fellows
Higher Ground (Earthquake# 1) by Tom Webb

Round Two of Pulp Friction 2014:

Controlled Burn (Fighting Fire #2) by Laura Harner
Cold Comfort (In From the Cold #2) by Lee Brazil
Blown Kisses (Where the Wind Blows #2) by Havan Fellows
Moving Earth (Earthquake #2) by Tom Webb

Review:Controlled Burn (Fighting Fire #2) by Laura Harner

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5:

Disabled firefighter Scott McGregor is just beginning to settle in at his new home and profession as the owner/operator of Mountain Shadows Campground. Complete with lodge and multiple rental cabins scattered throughout the grounds, Scott is finding balancing the renters, new and those that have lived there for years, a real challenge. But that is nothing to having his ex lover and friend, Robby Hammond, back in his life again.

Years ago Scott McGregor outed Robby to his family in a moment of anger and the aftermath had lasting repercussions for all. Now his accident and an old emergency contact card has brought Robby back into Scott’s life but nothing is as Scott had imagined or hoped for. Robby seems to be hiding a part of himself and his life from Scott. And Scott can’t seem to get past his old image of Robby to see the man that Robby has become. With such a clash of outlooks and wrongful assumptions, it’s no wonder that Robby and Scott are having problems communicating.

As Scott tries to figure out how to make things right with Robby,two men temporarily check into one of Mountain Shadows seasonal cabins to work on a Native American artifact collection at the Flagstaff musuem. Handsome and erudite, they just might be the thing to take Scott’s and Robby’s mind off their issues, especially with Robby’s connection to the collection by way of his job and his heritage. But nothing is ever simple with Scott and Robby. A phone call further complicates the assumptions and misunderstandings between the men. And that, along with the new renters, escalates things out of control.

Controlled Burn sees the long standing issues of perception and personal problems between Scott and Robby intensify. In Firestorm we started to get an outline of Scott and Robby’s past relationship but with Controlled Burn, that outline starts to fill in from the very first paragraph. It’s a flashback to Scott and Robby’s college days when they were lovers. Laura Harner drops the reader into the middle of a heated argument between Scott and Robby’s conservative professional Army father. It’s clear almost immediately that things are out of control between them and the ending is nothing short of traumatic for everyone there. It would be years before Scott and Robby saw each other again. Harner has the dialog just right for a idealistic college young man and a professional soldier sliding into dementia. It’s full of passion and rage, fear and hatred, between two people who steadfastly believe each is right. And its such a terrific way to bring the reader back into the complicated lives of Scott McGregor and Robby Hammond.

Both of the main characters here totally surprise me. There is so much hidden depths to one, and a total deceptive clarity to the other. Scott’s background and viewpoint are laid out before us. Scott thinks he knows what he wants and what Robby wants too. And he goes for it with all the subtlety of a rodeo bull. It’s Robby that’s the enigma. The true Robby is elusive to the reader and to Scott. We have clues scattered here and there, a picture of a woman, and some astounding statements from Robby about his sexuality. But something straightforward or anything less than opaque is missing. I love this element of the story. A real mystery at the heart of the series. Because it is clear that Scott has never really understood Robby at all. This element of the story seems so real, where its all about perceptions and assumptions and how blind you can be to a reality you don’t want to see.

Of course that’s not all that’s going on here. There are multiple small and large mysteries at play at Mountain Shadows just waiting to come to the fore. I love those too. This series just keeps getting better as the complications pile up. My only frustration is not having the next story in line to read. Short in length, deceptively deep in content, the Pulp Friction 2014 stories, Controlled Burn(Fighting Fire #2) in particular, are like delectable amuse-bouche, you can’t eat just one. They are addicting. Consider all of them and Controlled Burn highly recommended.

Cover art by Laura Harner is perfect for the story and series branding.

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 50 pages
Published March 14th 2014 by Hot Corner Press
ASINB00J0YWQ90
edition languageEnglish
seriesFighting Fire #2
Pulp Friction 2014 Series

Round One of Pulp Friction 2014:

Firestorm (Fighting Fire# 1) by Laura Harner
Cold Snap (In From the Cold# 1) by Lee Brazil
Blown Away (Where the Wind Blows# 1) by Havan Fellows
Higher Ground (Earthquake# 1) by Tom Webb

Round Two of Pulp Friction 2014:

Controlled Burn (Fighting Fire #2) by Laura Harner
Cold Comfort (In From the Cold #2) by Lee Brazil
Blown Kisses (Where the Wind Blows #2) by Havan Fellows
Moving Earth (Earthquake #2) by Tom Webb

Review: The Forester II: Lost and Found (The Forester Trilogy #2) by Blaine D. Arden

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

“The Guide mentioned puddles, but I envisioned lakes, deep treacherous lakes, and I was drowning.”

Truth Seeker Kelnaht, a cloud elf, is tired of sneaking around to see his tree elf beloveds. The Solstice is approaching and nothing feels right in Kel’s world with his Triad incomplete. His lover, a forester named Taruif, is still shunned, sentenced to 40 turns cast out for the recent horrible events (The Forester -The Forester Trilogy, #1) . Taruif now lives on the outskirts of the village and Kel must use every trick to secretly visit him without the others finding out. Kel’s other unacknowledged lover, the smith Ianys, visits him furtively,approaching Kel only when Ianys has a good excuse to use as camouflage for their assignation. Ianys is afraid to break a promise given to his deceased vowed and lose his daughter in the process. Only visiting with The Guide, their spiritual pathfinder, has Kel been able to find a measure of solace and hope.

Kel knows that the Elders are discussing reducing Taruif’s sentence, and the stress of not knowing is becoming unbearable. Ianys too is struggling with their situation and it feels like Kel is losing Ianys as well as Taruif. Then a young elf goes missing, and all the clues point to Taruif as the culprit. Kel needs to find the stripling and return him safely to his parents before the Solstice and learn who is behind the scheme to frame his lover. All before the elders announce their decision regarding Taruif. Master Kelnaht must hold on to his hope as the path to happiness turns treacherous for them all.

The Forester II: Lost and Found was my first introduction to this trilogy by Blaine D. Arden. But upon finishing this lushly spellbinding tale, I quickly returned to grab up the first story, wanting to know all about these charming characters and their complicated relationship. I did so because for the most part The Forester II: Lost and Found is not a story that can totally exist as a standalone tale. While Arden does supply a sufficient amount of backstory to these elves and their tumultuous relationships, these characters are so well created that the need to know more becomes almost compulsive by the end of the story. In fact I feel that way about almost every aspect and element that Blaine D. Arden has constructed for this Trilogy and the universe these characters inhabit.

There are the cloud elves with wings and the tree elves tied to the earth and such a combined existence can bring about much pain and longing to those who cannot fly. That is a truth that runs throughout the first two stories and its one that has haunted mankind since the first person watched a bird in flight in awe, hungering to do the same. Arden takes this undeniable longing and threads it into multiple storylines with an authenticity that most readers will understand and relate to.

I love Arden’s descriptions here, whether she is letting us feel the burden of loss that Kel is feeling or the complexities of flight under adverse conditions. And overlapping all of those elements is a layer of investigation and discovery carried out in search of the missing elf. Looking for clues while flying through the woods or over a meadow, how wonderful an idea! Kel has a cadre of elves working with him, similar to an elf forensic team. They scan the soil, search under leaves and moss, make casts of footprints as they gather evidence to the crime. I really enjoyed this aspect of the story. I found it not only fanciful but fascinating. Here is an excerpt:

We drew a rough map in the mud, indicating our discoveries and the possible directions to go next, and divided the routes amongst the three of us. After Ellon and Vroni took flight, Brem held me back, insisting I sit down and have a cup of tea to warm up first, though I suspected he only did it to give me a moment to catch my breath. Sometimes, he reminded me of my mother.

Despite the rest, my wings were more sensitive to the cold than they usually were. I shivered with every breeze, and my speed wasn’t optimal. The first place I landed held nothing of interest, and neither did the second. It took me longer to reach the third destination, with fatigue setting in, but even before I landed, I knew I’d find something. The earth was as muddy as the rest of the forest, but I still spotted footprints as I descended. Footprints of which parts seemed washed away in the rain. Well, that’s what it would look like from up close, but from here, the line seemed too clean, too sharp to be natural. I’d guess someone tried to sweep their tracks with a branch.

Studying the footprints, I found a piece of fabric next to the clearest of them, stuck in the mud, half hidden by fallen leaves. Thanking Ma’terra for the end of the rainfall and preserving this evidence, I performed a quick cleansing before digging out the fabric and wrapping it in goshe leaves.

As I examined the partial prints, the Guide’s saying came back to me. “When flood runs dry, stones stop sinking.” I shook my head. I had no idea how he did it, but he was right… again. Granted, I didn’t find stones, but the footprints and the line in the mud would have been hidden from sight had it still been raining. Unfortunately, I didn’t carry anything that would allow me to make a cast of the prints, so I secured them by covering them with goshe leaves I pinned to the ground with sticks. Not allowing myself any mistakes, I checked the fourth destination, even knowing I wouldn’t find anything there.

In Truth Seeker Kelnaht, Arden has created a sort of Master Elf Inspector and it works magically as well as realistically. And like any good Inspector, Kel has junior detectives helping in the search and providing insight along the way. Brem is one such character, strong and sure in his beliefs. Loved this character too. Brem will be leaving for his own Truth Seeker role in another village and I hope that Arden allows him his own mystery or two in another story.

And then there is the romance and Triad relationship between Kel, Taruif, and Ianys. The Forester II: Lost and Found starts with the three elves pulled apart by the painful circumstances of the first story. Told from Kel’s point of view, we are never quite sure what the other two elves are feeling or thinking which adds to our understanding of the stress that Kel is under. There are scenes that help convey the love and deep feelings that all three elves hold for each other. And while I wanted a little more romance, ultimately their need for each other came across without additional scenes required. Both Taruif and Ianys appear and disappear often from the narrative because of the need to hide their continuing relations with Kel but that also keeps both characters at an arm’s length from the reader.

I felt that of the two, Taruif was the most accessible of the lovers with Ianys pulling away from his lovers, from their standpoint, for most of the story. And while there is some resolution here for the Triad, there is clearly more to come in the final chapter. Both the first story, The Forester (50 pages) and the second, Lost and Found (88 pages) are short enough in length that they can be read in one sitting, one right after the other, which is what I recommend.

The Forester, The Forester II: Lost and Found and Oren’s Right, which can be found in Storm Moon Press’ Carved in Flesh anthology, are all a part of Blaine D. Arden’s The Tales of the Forest universe. I will eagerly await the last story in The Forester Trilogy. If you are new to this universe, start with the first Forester story and work your way forward. I think you will find this as elven world as addicting as I do.

Cover art by Nathie Block. This cover is just gorgeous. It’s lush, a visual treat and so perfect for the story within.

Book Details:

ebook, 88 pages
Published December 21st 2013 by Storm Moon Press
ISBN139781627570855
edition languageEnglish
Buy Link at Storm Moon Press

Books in The Tales of the Forest:

The Forester (The Forester #1)
The Forester II: Lost and Found (The Forester #2)
Oren’s Right

Review: The Calm Before by Neena Jaydon

Ratings: 4.5 stars out of 5

Half human, half elf, Elisedd remained behind in the elven city-state of Airgead, hoping to find a place he can finally fit in and perhaps even someone to love . But so far that hasn’t happened as trouble seems to follow Elisedd around. Only his best friend, Fife, a rent boy, offers Elisedd safety and support when he crashes from one failed romance after another. Its not just a hookup that Elisedd wants, its love like that of his parents who have fled Airgead. Elisedd had promised his parents he wouldn’t hide his mixed heritage but when neither race seems to want him what else is he to do? Then Elisedd meets full elf Riagan at a party and everything changes.

In the elven city of Airgead, there exists a rigid class system. Between different types of elves, as well as between elves and the humans that serve them.. There are the elves that rule, by rigid social caste system and a heavy fist for those that would ignore it. And there are the low caste elves that exist by the docks and the mean neighborhoods near factories and mines. Riagan is one of those. He is ruthless, single minded, and a bit of a thug. Riagen has long formulated a plan to ascend the ruling power structure, accumulating power and wealth as he goes. And a one night encounter with Elisedd is not going to get in his way of suceess or so Riagan thinks.

Elisedd is determined not to be another easy conquest for Riagan, but staying away from the dark and dangerous elf becomes harder each time they meet. Riagan too feels almost mesmerized by Elisedd’s present and not just their sexual passion they have for each other. Riagen is acquired a mine by duplicitous means and he intends to use it in a plan years in the making. The only thing that might stand in his way is Elisedd, whose mixed heritage he is hiding from Riagan. Everything is complicated between them and as the political status quo starts to get shaky, so do all the relationships around Elisedd and Riagan. The rigid boundaries erected by the high elves are starting to crack. Will the resulting chaos take Riagan and Elisedd down with it?

The Calm Before is the first book I have read by Neena Jaydon but it won’t be the last. The author’s ability to build such an intricate and believable universe for her story just amazed me. Jaydon has created a complex social structure for her characters and plot. There is a rigidly layered society within the Airgead city state that is composed of different types of elves(argent elves, gilt elves, and scorched elves). One such race aggressively entered Airgead, killing and removing all that stood in their way. Now they rule the city and are at the top of the caste system that regulates professions, holdings and even marriages. The lowest of the elves are those that would be the human equivalent of a trade level, or lower. They have their own neighborhoods and distinct regions within Airgead. Neighborhoods that are found in the worst part of the city, hard, impoverished. and ruled by gangs. They even have their own dialect that when spoken marks them as a lower caste. But the lowest of all are humans. They exist to serve the elves including labor and as prostitutes. Humans are the miners and the factory workers that resemble sweat shops. It is an existence made frail by its pain and hardships as well as lack of civil rights. Jayden has pulled from many histories to create a realistic totalitarian regime on the brink of social civil rights movement. It’s believable in the helplessness felt by those in the lower castes and in the urgency and anger that starts to shake the city state’s economic foundation.

Neena Jaydon then does justice to such astonishingly rich world with characters just as complex and compelling as the society they live in. Alisedd is a half human half elf, a rare being whose sensibilities and own passions have left him almost an outcast to both races. Alisedd is capable of “passing” as a human, lacking the pointed ears and physiology of the true elf. He longs for love and has remained behind in the city he loves, even after his parents fled. Alisedd is just that one step away from homelessness. He doesn’t want to become a prostitute like his friend Fife (a wonderful character too) but now that easy hookup looks to give him the much needed cash he requires and the connections he wants desperately to make with another. And then he meets Riagan.

Alisedd is so easy to empathize with that when Riagan comes into the picture you are more than a little afraid of the impact his arrival will have on Alisedd. And that is because Riagan is such a powerful, strong character that he exudes a sense of danger and mistrust. He is an elf fighting his way out of the gutter so to speak. And nothing is going to prevent him from achieving his goals. The attraction between the two is as combustible as the political changes that start to ignite around them.

Here the author really sinks the reader into her gritty reality. Riagan has his own agenda and is constantly fighting his attraction to Eliseed. Elisedd has his own secrets that he is keeping from Riagan. So the relationship that starts to form between them is one of stress and strain as well as one of emotion and lust. Heady stuff indeed. And Jaydon starts to amp up the societal pressures, as the streets turn ugly with racial hatred and humans start to demand their rights. The very economic foundation of Airgead threatens to crack wide open to the detriment of all who reside within its boundaries. It’s an explosive time in almost every way and Jaydon’s superb descriptions and crackling dialog serves to bring it all to life in stirring detail.

The Calm Before is told from alternating points of view, mostly Elisedd’s and Riagan’s. I found this to be absolutely necessary in order to understand all of the intricacies to the plot as well as the interwoven relationships. The author manages this change of point of views just right so that it never feels uneven or disconcerting. It did take me a few pages to get pulled into the story but once there, my attention was securely held by the drama and the unfolding love affair between two such disparate personalities. Really, I just loved this story. I found it just riveting from the world building to Jaydon’s amazing characters and their slow climb to love. Consider this highly recommended.

Cover design by Le Burden Designs. Almost a little too simple considering how lush and textured a story lies behind it.

Book Details:

ebook
Published February 5th 2014 by Less Than Three Press LLC (first published February 4th 2014)
original titleThe Calm Before
ISBN139781620043103
edition languageEnglish
The Calm Before at Less Than Three Press

In the Author Spotlight: S.J. Frost on Vampire Prince (Giveaway)

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In the Author Spotlight: SJ. Frost, Author of Vampire Prince

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Good morning all! ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to welcome author S.J. Frost here today. She is going to be talking about her latest book, Vampire Prince, and the inspiration behind it. To celebrate the release, she will be giving away a copy of this eBook. To enter to win, leave a comment and an email address or other way to get in touch with you in the body of the comment. A winner will be picked 4/12.

Welcome, S.J.!

SJF:

Hello, everyone! I’m thrilled to be a guest here and my thanks goes out to Melanie for the invitation! I’m going to be chatting about my newest release, Vampire Prince, published by Ellora’s Cave, and how the story came about. I’ll also be offering a free ebook copy of it to one lucky winner. Good luck to everyone who enters the giveaway!

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I’ve always enjoyed the vampire genre. There’s an allure to those immortal beings, who walk the line of being a monster or being human, that draws me in. Depending on the world an author or filmmaker has created for them, they can be fiendish and horrifying, or beautiful and seductive. Sometimes, they’re mix of all those elements.

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As some of you who are familiar with my work may know, Vampire Prince isn’t my first foray into paranormal erotic romance or vampires. That came about with Natural Instincts, Book 1 in my Instincts series, published by MLR Press. When I set out to create my own vampire world in the Instincts series, though it may sound strange, I wanted to take much of the paranormal elements out of it. I wanted to create a vampire world where vampirism had a natural and evolutionary explanation. My vampires in that series maintained a closeness to having a human existence, since essentially, they’re a sub-species of human with greater evolutionary adaptations.

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I loved the world I built in the Instincts series, but I still wanted to write more vampires. About a year ago, I began to see in my mind a beautiful young man trapped in a desperate situation. He was locked in a sparsely furnished room, his head down, unable to escape. A blood slave, forced to give his blood and body to vampires, but who still held strong to the dream of having his freedom again. That young man would turn out to be one of the main characters for Vampire Prince, Sebastian Beaumont.

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After I understood Sebastian and his situation, I knew it would take a strong hero to help him and that’s when the other main character stepped forward, the elegant and beautiful vampire prince, Valentin Wyndham.

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Valentin was an interesting character to me. A little more than three hundred-years old, because of his age, he’s earned the title of “prince” among vampire society and he’s still very much the noble gentlemen he’d always been. He has a strong sense of compassion and protectiveness toward Sebastian, but little patience for other vampires. Though the story had the potential to take a dark turn with Sebastian being a blood slave, I knew right away that nothing would be forced between Sebastian and Valentin. They were two characters who needed each other, but in different ways. Vampire Prince, from beginning to end, would be a love story.

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As the story began unfolding in my mind, I realized this was a vampire tale different from any I’d yet written. Really, the entire story was going to challenge me in a whole new way and I was very excited about that. I saw not only the opportunity to write a vampire story, but also a paranormal story all around. The vampires could have greater supernatural strengths. I could write a demon as a secondary character…a very cocky demon with a crocodile entity as a companion. I could bring in elements of magic and summoning. I could stretch my writing wings and tell a paranormal story with any and all kinds of supernatural elements.

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For me, that’s one of the reasons I love vampires stories and movies. While they all may share that common platform of being about those blood drinkers, the only limits to what can be done with them is what an author or filmmaker puts on them. The vampire theme can be reinvented and explored in endless ways, different supernatural elements can be brought in. With Vampire Prince, I kept the parameters open and ran where the characters were leading me. And those characters led me on a journey that as it was drawing to an end, even though I’d thought the story would be a single novel, I knew I would be returning to the world and the characters. I’d fallen in love with them and already wanted to work with them more and let the world grow further.

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Now that the book is available, I hope all who give it a read will enjoy the story of Sebastian and his vampire prince, Valentin, as much as I loved writing it.

Thanks, SJ, for stopping by and bringing a copy of Vampire Prince to giveaway. I have the book details for Vampire Prince below. Remember to enter to win a copy, just leave a comment and a way we can get in touch with you in the body of the comment. By entering you are acknowledging that you are over the age of 18. Good luck and happy reading.

Author Bio:
S.J. Frost is a multi-published author of sweet and sexy gay erotic romance stories. Contemporary, paranormal, fantasy and historical, she likes to dabble in a little bit of everything, but her stories always contain love, passion and romance. She encourages readers to contact her, so do please feel welcome to send her an email or track her down on the Internet and say hi!

You can contact S.J. Frost at:

Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Email: s.j.frost3@gmail.com
Goodreads Author Page

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Vampire Prince

ebook, 218 pages
Published March 7th 2014 by Ellora’s Cave
original title Vampire Prince
ISBN 1419948601 (ISBN13: 9781419948602)
edition language English
Ellora’ Cave Vampire Prince link
characters:Sebastian Beaumont, Valentin Wyndham
setting: Savannah, Georgia (United State

Blurb:

For three years, Sebastian has lived as a blood slave, giving his blood and body to vampires. He’s a prisoner, owned by the blood house he serves. Sebastian dreams of freedom, of feeling the sun and wind on his face once again.

Valentin has earned the title of vampire prince. But status and age haven’t brought him love. When his blood craving grows too demanding to be ignored, he goes to the blood house and finds himself entranced by the spirited Sebastian.

Their passion is strong, their connection to each other undeniable. Sebastian wants to be Valentin’s, and Valentin wants to keep Sebastian—forever. The danger of giving the blood slave his freedom is high and the price might be both their lives.

Review: Angel’s Truth (Angel #2) by Liz Boreno

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

“Freeze or I’ll shoot!” Aaron yelled and aimed the gun at Jordan’s chest.
“Angel, no, please.” Hacking fluid-filled coughs broke up Jordan’s words.
“Jordan?” Aaron whispered his name as recognition painted a mural of memories of their life together on his face.
“Yes.” He coughed red into his dirty hand. “Please help.”

And with those words, Angel’s Truth begins, picking up immediately from Angel’s Hero when supposedly dead Army Captain Jordan Collins arrives home after a month as a POW in Afghanistan. Sick and injured, Jordan finds his enemy Major General Troy Hart just leaving his home before Jordan reaches out to let his husband, Aaron “Angel” Collins, know he is alive and home once more. As Aaron welcomes Jordan home and rushes Jordan to the hospital, Jordan reveals that Hart is the man behind his imprisonment in Afghanistan and death sentence he was under.

As Jordan adjusts to freedom, he also has to contend with PTSD, a shattered confidence, and the fact that his enemy,Troy Hart, is still free. Aaron realizes that the man he thought was a friend to him during those painful times where Aaron was looking for answers about his husband’s disappearance and unlikely death is actually a danger to them all. Now Aaron must help Jordan recover his emotional and physical health and together discover just what Major General Troy Hart’s betrayal and deception means to them and to the nation.

As stated in the publisher’s blurb, Angel’s Truth picks up exactly to the word where Angel’s Hero ends. If you haven’t read the first story, this one won’t make any sense as there is very little back story included in this sequel. At 64 pages, it is a tad shorter than Angel’s Hero and somehow that works to this story’s advantage. The narrative is tighter, and some of the more problematic plot elements from the first story are gone, including a fractured timeline that jumped back and forth between present day and the beginnings of their romance. That was more confusing than helpful. Luckily, that is absent here. But other larger errors appear. Let’s get to those now.

But while the loving relationship between the men is reestablished by their reunion, some of the issues I had with the plausibility of their professions and Jordan’s escape still stand. This is Jordan’s explanation as to how he arrived (sick, coughing up blood and in Afghanistan Army uniform pants) back in the US, apparently only miles from Bethesda, MD. The conversation picks up at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital in Bethesda where Jordan is telling his story to his superior officer:

“… had “accidently” dropped a piece of paper with information about a cargo plane to the United States in his cell weeks before. Jordan then explained that he hitched a ride on a delivery truck, and offered to read the English map to the US for the pilot in exchange for a ride home. “

Now Jordan changed some of the details about the nurse who helped him get free to protect her. But all this took place in two days time. In two days, he got free from a horror of a desert prison, just before his date with a firing squad, hitched a ride out of said desert (not that a mixed heritage of black and Korean American wouldn’t stick out like Uncle Sam) but he is also limping on a severely broken ankle, with a bad case of pneumonia, and wearing an Afghanistan Army uniform. And after the reader makes a huge leap over that implausible plot canyon, you still have to believe that he then hitches a ride in a native’s truck to an airfield, hitches another ride (still coughing up blood, same attire) on a foreign cargo plane, which lands in Bethesda (with no problem apparently even without an airport or the ever present homeland security), and then makes it to his house on foot, just a couple of streets over. Only in a comedic send up of the military and Washington, Dc would such an escape be possible. Or remotely realistic.

Then there is the fact that in the story Aaron calls 911 and Jordan is taken immediately to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Bethesda, MD. Our local 911 responders are not allowed to do that even if the person being transported requests/demands to be taken to Walter Reed for emergency care. Instead the injured party would be taken to a civilian emergency room, evaluated, and then later transferred if required. That’s the law and that fact can be easily checked with Walter Reed authorities, also known as Command Personnel.

In addition, it says Jordan was a prisoner for over 2 months time. Sometimes its a “little over a month”. As a prisoner of war under harsh conditions, a month or so would have an enormous impact on the prisoner’s health and mental state. But the actual time as a POW seems to fluctuate from page to page. These things alone serve to disconnect me from the story, pulled out of whatever dramatic action is happening to think about the errors in front of me. If the reader can’t believe in the characters or the plot, how can they invest even a part of themselves in a story? I don’t think they can. Then there is the lack of security and isolation around an escaped ill prisoner who just “came back from the dead”. These days that happenstance is called a major security risk.

Unfortunately, this author just stumbles into one pitfall after another with her characters and story location to this story’s detriment. And this leads into one of my issues with this series. To some it may land on the side of nitpicking, but to this reader it says the author hasn’t done their research.

Writing about Washington, Dc and it’s surrounding environs can be tricky. You either get it right or you don’t. And Liz Borino mostly doesn’t get it. Built as the only Federal city in the United States so many people have decried its lack of “thereness” , of that inescapable uniqueness that cities such as Baltimore, Chicago and New York City have and are associated with. And that’s intentional. On our maps should be the sentences “here lie the NSA, the CIA, the FBI” and all the other alphabet agencies so necessary to the security of our nation just like it used to say “there by dragons” on ancient maps. Here lie Congress, the Capitol, the White House, and all the other government organizations meant to reside here from the very beginning. Then the World Trade Organization, all the embassies….and soon you can understand why the District of Columbia lacks the very individual nature, the vivacity associated with other cities. It’s not built into its personality on purpose. It thrives on anonymity, on power disguised behind common tailoring and less than modern haircuts….on people who are secretive and withdrawn by nature. No one who burbles on at work makes it here…unless its done on purpose and with a hidden agenda. How long would Aaron have lasted at the CIA? Not long, if he even made it through the door.

None of the characters here are believable within the ethos of Washington, DC , whether it be political, military or intelligence agency. I think Borino had a good idea somewhere in here but not the attention to detail that these characters, their professions, the location, and even the plot requires.

Do I think all of the above will bother every reader? Probably not, which is why this got by with a 3 rating instead of the 2.5 it deserved. Some readers will love the romance and the “aww” factor found in the reunion and HEA. I will admit this is a tighter narrative on the surface than Angel’s Hero, and thus a better story as far as that goes. But as someone who lives in the Washington, DC Metro area, all the errors committed within these stories caused any enjoyment I might have found in the Angel series to fade away, like Cherry Blossoms in a stiff wind…in the Spring of course.

Cover art by Anthony Walsh. Again, very nice cover. Works for the story and characters.

Angel series include:

Angel’s Hero (Angel #1)
Angel’s Truth (Angel #2)

Book Details:

ebook, 64 pages
Published March 14th 2014 by Lazy Day (first published March 10th 2014)
ISBN 1612581250 (ISBN13: 9781612581255)
edition languageEnglish
seriesAngel #2

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