Review: Lost and Found by Z.A. Maxfield

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Rigoberto “Ringo” Salazar is thirty years old, heads up security for the upscale RV Newport Sands Resort, and owns his own “cookie cutter” home. He is out and part of a large latino family that still loves and accepts him, not caring about his sexuality. The one thing missing from his life? Someone to love and be loved in return. Then he spies young Gavin Lopez playing saxophone for the summer crowd at the picnic tables and Ringo is lost.

Now a year after that first sighting, things have been rocky for Ringo and Gavin. Gavin is insecure, rough around the edges, a commitment phobe with anger management issues. Gavin spends as much time driving Ringo away as he does pulling him in. But Gavin is also “the one” for Ringo. Through constant fights, separations, and hot makeup sessions, Ringo has been there for Gavin, where Gavin has wanted his support or not.

But now things are coming to a head. A recent moment of togetherness, brought on by Gavin’s knee surgery, is shattered when Gavin’s beloved dog Bird runs away and Gavin blames Ringo. While searching for Bird, Ringo comes to a number of realizations about himself and Gavin. Things cannot go on as they have, changes have to be made by Ringo and Gavin for them to have a future together. But Gavin is full of fear and lacks faith in everyone including himself. It will take a miracle not only for Ringo to find Bird but for the men to find it in themselves to change and move forward. But Christmas is a season of miracles and what was lost will find a way to come home, whether it be a dog or an abiding love.

There is nothing typical about Lost and Found by Z.A. Maxfield, other than it is a perfect example of a Z.A. Maxfield story. Part of Riptide Publishing’s Home for the Holidays collection, it is only superficially a “holiday story”. Below such surface expectations of Christmas memories and holiday traditions lurks the all too human characters that I have come to expect from this amazing author. Her characters are full of imperfections, riddled with insecurities, lacking the tools, the social niceties that help others cope with society and the stress of the times. You need to look no further than Gavin Lopez to find the tarnished jewel of this Maxfield story.

I think some people might be put off by Gavin. Or if not Gavin, then’s Ringo’s pursuit of Gavin and a relationship. But Gavin’s character is a gritty, prickly personification of a person so wounded that his first and only impulse when faced with affection and love is to throw up barriers and inflict enough pain and insult as to make that threat to his self isolation go away. And Gavin does a quite thorough job of it in Lost and Found. Towards the man who loves him, Gavin is abusive verbally, sometimes downright cruel. Gavin is childish, sulking and impulsive in his actions. So why do we like him? Because Ringo does. And through Ringo’s eyes, we see beyond the stunted adult into the wounded young artist crying out for help and love.

The story is told in Ringo’s pov. We understand by hearing his thoughts and feeling his emotions that Ringo too carries his share of pain and past injuries both physical and emotional. A vet with PTSD, he has adjusted to civilian life but his memories of his tour of duty lurk on the edges of Ringo’s mind, just waiting to reappear. Ringo has a love of his culture and family but also understands the reality of being an out gay latino in his neighborhood where he is protected not only by his size but by the force of his Uncle Salvo and family. Ringo’s complexities are apparent whether he is dealing with security issues at the RV park or with the emotional turmoil of Gavin himself.

It is a mark of this author’s skill that, just when the reader is getting so exasperated with Gavin’s actions towards Ringo and Ringo’s constant acceptance of the unrelenting rejection that they want to give up on this couple’s romance, she has Ringo understand that a major change in his approach to Gavin must occur in order for him to go forward in his pursuit. This is a much needed shift in attitude, and for some readers eyes long overdue. But again it works to help the reader better understand the men involved and the relationship Ringo is hoping to have with Gavin. One more realistic layer added to an already multilayered story.

Throughout the story, like a line tethering one character to another, is Bird, the chocolate lab who is Gavin’s constant companion and the vessel into which he pours all his love. Tying an endearing pet like Bird to someone who is off-putting and dislikable as Gavin, at least at the beginning, helps to connect the reader to that person. It changes our perception of them instantaneously. For if a dog loves them, then somewhere inside they must be deserving of being loved, a widely held opinion whether it is true or not. The reader will find the hunt for Bird gut wrenching, especially if you are a pet owner. It feels as real as the rest of the story, as does Bird himself.

My only real quibble here is the length. I think Lost and Found would benefit from a longer length, from novella to novel size. The end of the story is as realistic and satisfying as these two complex men could have at the time. I would have loved a little more to the resolution and acceptance, letting the reader revel in the moment a little longer along with the men. T’would have been keeping in the holiday spirit and the miracles that can occur if you want them badly enough. As it is I still loved Lost and Found and recommend it highly no matter the season or holidays you keep.

Cover art by L.C. Chase is just magnificent. One of the best covers of 2013. Perfection in every way from tone, emotion, and character. Just wow.

Special Note:

20% of all proceeds from this title are donated to the Ali Forney Center in New York, whose mission “is to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth from the harm of homelessness, and to support them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood.” To learn more about this charity or to donate directly, please visithttp://www.aliforneycenter.org/.

Book Details:

140 pages

Expected publication: December 2nd 2013 by Riptide Publishing

ISBN13 9781626490857

edition language English

Contest and Guest Blog by Z.A. Maxfield for Lost and Found

Let’s welcome Z.A. Maxfield to ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords to share her thoughts on the holidays and her latest release, Lost and Found:

Five Favorite Holiday Book Memories

Hello, and welcome to my Lost and Found blog tour! Thanks so much to Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for hosting me today. I’m so glad to be able to share my latest release.

Everyone has Christmas film memories, and I have a lot of those. But I want to talk about my Five Favorite Holiday Book Memories. These are either about books I’ve read that deal with the holidays, or books I’ve read during the holidays!

When my daughter was two, one of our relatives sent us a tiny little board book called The Christmas Mouse. I must have read that thing a thousand times. She carried it in her tiny baby hand everywhere we went, and as her mother it was my job to read it whenever she wanted it read. Reading a story to a toddler is the BEST Christmas memory.

I used to have a copy of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that belonged to my mother. It was small, illustrated, and had a green leather binding. The embossing on the cover was so worn, you couldn’t read the title, but I loved that book. I kept it in a bookcase next to the bed for years and every time my husband left me a Post-It note I tucked it inside the cover. Somehow, I’ve lost that book and I’m very much afraid it was with the Christmas decorations that burned. But I loved that book. I used to enjoy reading it out loud to my kids.

One year my mother went to a used bookstore and bought me a dozen or so blue tweed editions of the Nancy Drew series from the fifties. I wasn’t feeling well, and I remember lying in bed for several days with a high fever, enjoying those books one after another when I felt well enough to read. That was a great gift and I still have those books and some older editions from the thirties that my mother bought when she was in elementary school. The fun thing about those is that she wrote her name on the inside covers in her painstaking elementary school cursive. (Which looked better than mine does now…)

I used to get really excited about interesting or unusual Christmas ornaments, but as probably everyone in the world knows now, I had a fire and lost all that. At one time, I collected little storybooks ornaments. I had A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, and I think maybe one other, I think it must have been T’was The Night Before Christmas. I used to take them off the tree and read them, and the kids liked them, they were the perfect size for little kid hands.

And Finally, MY VERY FAVORITE Christmas book memory is about an AUDIOBOOK! One year as a lark I bought this holiday themed set of cassette tapes from one of the big box stores. The tapes were a compilation of stories, I don’t know, A Baker’s Dozen, The Nutcracker, The Christmas Tea Set, and this one story about a Little Christmas Tree. Every year, we’d make cocoa in travel mugs and go drive around one of the neighborhoods where people take their holiday decorations really seriously. We’d listen to those stories, until we got to the tree one, and everyone would have a cow! See, that story was the saddest, most depressing, most pessimistic story ever, and the kids used to scream at me if I let them listen to it. So, now you know, it’s to honor my family that whenever I tell a story, I always make sure it has a happy ending. There are enough downer stories in the world…I want to remind people that even in the bottom of Pandora’s Box, there was a little bit of hope.

Thanks so much for spending some time with me and the guys from Lost and Found!

Blurb –
Lost: one dog and two men in need of each other. Found: love.
RV resort security chief Ringo never believed in love at first sight . . . until he saw Gavin playing his sax on the beach for the tourists. But their on-again, off-again affair—even counting all the great makeup sex—doesn’t come close to the relationship he wants. All he really wants for Christmas is a commitment from Gavin.
Instead he discovers that Gavin has had surgery without telling him, so he lays down a relationship ultimatum while Gavin recuperates. Complicating matters even more, Gavin’s beloved dog Bird runs away, and Gavin blames Ringo for the disappearance.
While Ringo throws every resource he has into finding Bird, he learns deeper truths about Gavin—how hard it is for him to trust and how little faith he has in love. Maybe if Ringo can find Bird, he can salvage Gavin’s faith. Maybe this Christmas, they can all find each other.

You can read an excerpt or purchase Lost and Found HERE. Remember, when you purchase Lost and Found in either ebook format, which you can find HERE or in the print anthology format, which you can find HERE, you’re helping to support the mission of the Ali Forney Center.

About Z. A. Maxfield:

ZAM started writing in 2007 on a dare from her children and never looked back. Pathologically disorganized, and perennially optimistic, she writes as much as she can, reads as much as she dares, and enjoys her time with family and friends. Three things reverberate throughout all her stories: Unconditional love, redemption, and the belief that miracles happen when we least expect them.
If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four can find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up housework.”

Readers can visit ZAM at her website, Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr.

Lost and Found Contest Details:

To recap, you can find all the blog tour information you need at the Riptide Website, HERE. Be sure you attend all the stops and follow the Rafflecopter instructions for the chance to win a $20.00 Riptide Publishing Gift Certificate and all the songs on my Lost and Found Playlist! The winner will be drawn on December 8th at 5pm EST. Contest is valid worldwide.

Lost and Found Rafflecopter

Riptide contest details:
Enter your details in the Rafflecopter below to gain entry in the *Home for the Holidays* giveaway! This week of the tour closes at midnight, EST, on December 6th. Then, one grand prize winner will be contacted at the end of the Home for the Holidays tour on December 16th. Contest is valid worldwide.

Riptide Publishing Rafflecopter Link

Book Note:

Review: Continental Divide (Separate Ways #1) by Laura Harner and Lisa Worrall

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Bumped to Missing Persons after an argument with his Captain months prior over a case he solved, Phoenix PD Det. Remy Remington knew he was onto something big when he discovered that his latest missing persons report for a young boy was just one of 6 young men to have disappeared in the Phoenix area recently. Although the boys had been reported as runaways, the details and timing of the disappearances made Remy’s cop instincts twinge and not in a good way. Not trusting his Captain after past events, Remy starts to dig deeper on his own into accounts of missing boys elsewhere in the nation and comes to the attention of an international squad already deep into the same investigation. One phone call later and Remy finds himself on the way to London and a case that will change his life forever.

In London, Inspector Jamie Mainwaring is looking at the cases of 6 young men who have disappeared in the London area in recent weeks and immediately he knows something is terribly wrong. As he starts to research the disappearances of young men in other areas, his computer searches send out a signal to a special branch of Interpol and soon Jamie finds himself assigned to Interpol who needs Jamie’s name as Lord Mainwaring as much as they do his skill as an inspector who spotted the pattern.

Remy and Jamie must find a way to work together even as their personalities and social status serve to drive them apart…at least at first. The men find their attraction to each other growing stronger as their case gets larger and more evil in scope. Soon it’s a race against time to recover the boys and solve the case, before the criminals and the boys disappear from England. When it all comes down to culture and cowboys, can the two mesh their approaches and put aside their feelings to catch the criminals and bring the boys safely home?

I was introduced to Laura Harner through the Pulp Friction group and loved her Triple Threat series . So I was really looking forward to the Separate Ways series and I have not been disappointed. Continental Divide,written with Lisa Worrall, marks the start of a tumultuous relationship between American Remy Remington and British Lord Jamie Mainwarring (that’s Mannering to us in the US). And how diametrically opposite these two characters are. Remy, the Phoenix PD Detective, is all brash cowboy in outlook and approach. He likes working alone as his dark past has taught him little about trust and working with others. Only his high solve rate and intelligence have kept him on the force to date and that’s about to change. Remy is quite the dark character and this case only makes things worse, from old nightmares reappearing to being a “fish out of water” after landing in London with a partner he underestimates from the start. Remy is someone people are afraid of at first meeting and later afraid for when they get to know him, an absolutely wonderful characterization.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Jamie Tristen Mainwarring, forty-second Earl of Fordham, and to his mother’s dismay and disapproval, an Inspector at Scotland Yard. Under constant pressure by his high-powered and influential mother, Lady Mainwarring, to marry, settle down and run the estate, Jamie has persisted in going his own way. That includes being out about his sexuality and becoming an Inspector. Cultured, intelligent, and loyal, Jamie goes out of his way to avoid conflict with his mother while still trying to be his own man away in London, a balancing act he is not always successful at. He’s also very pretty and that combined with all his other titles and characteristics lead Remy to underestimate him and his skills as a police officer. It might take the reader a little longer to relate to Jamie given his social status and attitude towards his overbearing mother. But once the reader accepts Jamie, then the man works his way into the reader’s affections never to leave.

It’s that clash of cultures and backgrounds that ignites first an attraction and then love that is so realistic, so believable that it hurts. It is so easy to see how that rough, gruff American cowboy with his boots and well worn jeans manages to attract the urbane and civilized Lord Jamie. Jamie has never met someone like Remy before and the authors show us how completely Jamie is unseated by someone outside his social range who never “fawns” over him as others normally do. Of course, the flip side to all this is Remy with a background of child abuse so dark and so horrific that you almost bleed for the man the more his pain filled past is revealed.

Tying the men together is a case so chilling, so appalling that you will feel a bit nauseated as the case unfurls. I think one of the things that makes this case so dreadful are the recent articles on sexual slavery world wide that are appearing in the media. Harner and Worrall get it right. The authors steadily increase the anxiety and dread the readers are feeling as more details about the boys situation come to light and the race to rescue them unfolds across a London background. Another element I appreciated, while hating the authenticity of it, is that the authors understand and chronicle the reality that nothing will ever be the same for the rescued boys. That those boys that were found are profoundly damaged and will require long term psychological and emotional help if they are to even make a semblance of recovery. Too often I have seen this aspect of abuse glossed over and I was happy to see this issue treated so responsibly.

Now about that romance. Yes, there is one, a romance as complex and intense as the men themselves. It is also one that can’t last, at least at the moment. That is just not realistic considering each man’s responsibilities and continent of residence. Note that the series is called Separate Ways and is four books long and that will tell you volumes about what is in store for Remy and Jamie. This is a love that has a long path to travel before the men can be together or at least I am assuming that ending. We won’t know for sure until Spring of 2014 when the final story in the series is released. Is it worth the journey you will take with them? Absolutely! These men are going to tear you apart, make you bawl gallons of tears, shock you and make you laugh as well as shout in anger. I have done all that and more and still find myself breathless in anticipation for that last story.

The only reason this story did not rate a 5 rating is because I know what’s coming. Harner is taking this series to even greater heights with Oceans Apart and Moving Mountains. Trust me, it just gets better and better, deepening in complexity while changing and widening the relationships of Jamie and Remy as their saga continues. So consider Continental Divide a solid, compelling foundation for the suspense and gripping stories to come. I highly recommend this book, this series and these terrific authors who told it so well. Follow me over to the next in the series, Oceans Apart (Separate Ways #2). You won’t be sorry, shocked, angered even, but not even remotely sorry!

Books in the Separate Ways series in the order they were written and should be read are:

Continental Divide (Separate Ways #1) written by Laura Harner, Lisa Worrall
Oceans Apart (Separate Ways #2) written by Laura Harner
Moving Mountains (Separate Ways #3) written by Laura Harner
Untitled Fourth Book coming in April 2014

Book Details:

ebook, 225 pages

Published March 9th 2012 by Hot Corner Press (first published 2012)

original title Continental Divide

ISBN13 9781937252120

edition language English

series Separate Ways

Review: Blue River by Theo Fenraven

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Photographic artist Ethan Mars is hanging out with friends at a house in Topanga Canyon. When Doug recounts a story about a local porthole that allows people to go back in time, Ethan and his friend Randy decide to hike around on the trails to see if they can find it. For Ethan the day is more about taking pictures than finding something out of science fiction, then the fog appears before them. One misstep and Ethan tumbles through the fog and into 1863, albeit still Southern California.

Quinn Parker and his sister Hes own a farm in Blue River and when Ethan Mars stumbles out of the fog, neither is surprised as he is the second stranger from the future to find them in a year. But unlike the previous time traveler, Ethan Mars is gay and represents everything Quinn Parker wants and has been keeping hidden.

While waiting for the portal to open again, Quinn and Ethan fall into a friendship and then a love affair doomed by time. Or is it? When the fog reappears, there is a choice to be made? Who will stay and who will go?

Blue River is a terrific little romance stuffed full of elements that add texture and depth, giving it the feel of a much larger story. Ethan Mars is a renown photographic artist who has made the sale of a lifetime and is celebrating with friends in Topanga Canyon, a place known for its artists, quirky atmosphere and gorgeous views. When a friend wants to hike a little used trail in the canyon, they use the excuse of trying to find a time portal as the reason for their venture into the wild. The descriptions of the canyon and the oddly floating bit of fog is a great way to start Ethan’s unexpected adventure into the past.

We’d been walking for half an hour when he stopped and held up a hand. “Ethan.”

I looked in the direction he was pointing, and about twenty feet in front of us, under the spreading branches of a copper beech, I saw semitransparent wisps of white flowing together and pulling apart a few feet above the ground. “That’s called fog, Randy.”

“Why is it only in that one spot, then? There’s no water nearby, and the temperature seems fairly constant.”

“We don’t know it’s only in that one spot. Never assume, man.” I brushed past him, heading for the mist.

“Wait!” he yelped, grabbing my arm. “Together, just in case, you know….” “

In case the fog decides to swallow me whole?” Chuckling, I kept walking, dragging him along. “Didn’t they make a cheesy movie about that?” Even close up, it looked like fog. Thin, wispy, and I could see through it to the woods behind.

I stuck a hand in the stuff, waggling it around and making faces at him as I intoned, “Bwahahahahaha….”

He rolled his eyes. “Asshole. I’m getting hungry. Let’s drop by Doug’s place, see what he has in the fridge.” “Yeah, okay.” So much for seeking Shangri-La.

Well, as we all know, the story doesn’t stops there. Because, as Fenraven knows, where is the fun in that? But the real surprises start in 1863 and the reality of pioneer life. Fenraven does a great job in presenting the time period minus the “romantic candlelight” glow that seems to creep into some of the other historic romances I have read. No, here is 1863 authentically presented with the warts of the time period to go along with the things that have been lost with progress. So we get, or actually Nathan gets to eat food free of chemicals and genetic manipulation. In 1863, a tomato or apple explodes on his taste buds, their flavor so sensational that Nathan mourns their loss in his time. But Fenraven is also quick to include the lack of bathing because as Hes tells Ethan, “its not healthy”. No bathing, no thoughts of hygiene, no washing hands, …..so yeah, a closed in cabin is not a happy place to be after a week’s time. Clothes get rank as does unwashed hair and soon Nathan is pining for 2013 and his shower at home.

And you don’t blame him a bit.

The author is good at vividly describing life in Blue River and 1863, both the pros and the cons. Fenraven is also quick to note the dangers of open homosexuality in a time period where it is considered a sin and often punished by death. Quinn Parker is a sexual innocent. A young man engaged to be married to a woman who helped his family when they needed it. Responsibility, obligations and society’s expectations have forced Quinn into asking her to marry him and now , with Ethan before him, he feels trapped. The more Ethan describes his open life in the future, the more regretful and conflicted Quinn becomes. Then Ethan starts his seduction of Quinn, and his true nature surfaces, no longer to be denied. If ever there was a genie in the bottle, its Quinn’s sexuality. And Quinn despairs of ever being able to pass as “normal” again once Ethan shows him just how good it feels. Slowly the affection between the men turns into love, one with no apparent future to each man’s despair.

Another aspect of this story that Fenraven doesn’t gloss over is the fact that Ethan could never survive in 1863. He is ill prepared by his upbringing, his attitudes, and his personality. He has a hard time hiding who he is from Hes, a judgmental and wary 16 year old, he would never be able to pull it off in front of a more discerning audience. Nathan just can’t hide who he is. It is one of the reasons Quinn loves him and it is the reason that they will part.

There are a few things that bothered me. At one point Nathan is missing his family at home (this story takes place during the holidays) but then thinks that he has a family here in 1863 too. Uh, no he doesn’t. Hes dislikes him intensely and distrusts him as well. The only one happy to have him there is Quinn, so I am not sure what family Fenraven is talking about. Hes is a believable but dislikable character, smug, sure of her universe and disapproving of any that might prove a threat to her happiness, definitely a tad on the puritan side. So yes, she seems real. The author did a great job making her somewhat stinky flesh and blood but don’t expect me to like her.

And yes, there is a happy ending but in my mind, I can never just leave it there (where I should). Instead I start thinking about the future, and the romance in this story dims for a second. But its the holidays, at least in this story. Time for a suspension in belief in all things real and to hope for all things happy and in love. I think I will leave the review right there. At the end, just where all stories about time travel and holiday miracles should.

Cover art by Maria Fanning. Just a lovely cover, perfect for the story.

Book Details:

ebook, 92 pages

Published October 9th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press (first published December 13th 2011)

ISBN 1627981659 (ISBN13: 9781627981651)

edition language English

url http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Review: Ride-Off (Polo #2) by Mickie B. Ashling

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Preston Fawkes and Konrad Schnell are finding it tougher than they had imagined to begin their new life together after their long separation. With families to combine as well as ranches, Preston and Kon are also dealing with the physical and emotional aftermath of Kon’s airplane crash, subsequent years of amnesia, and their desperate need for each other that is taking priority over everything and everyone else in their life, including their children.

Kon’s son, Bandi wants to play polo but has entered the game with three disadvantages. One is that he is older than the other players and everyone suspects that it is because of his father, Preson and his lover Ned that is getting him ahead and spots on the team instead of his talent. Sasha Fawkes has always been the only son but now he not only has to share his dad with Kon but with Bandi and the newly arrived Paloma as well. And Sasha is not happy at all. He is struggling with his career as a actor and the lack of a love life and a secret that he has kept hidden from his father for years. Then Paloma, his step sister, arrives from South America, demanding her father’s time, money as well as expertise and the situation with all the children explodes into an emotional mess with reverberations for all. What a Thanksgiving the Fawkes-Schnell family is having but there is more to come as an evil from the past invades their lives, shaking them to their very foundations of love and family.

Well, lets start off with the positive things about Ride-Off, the second in the Polo series by Mickie B. Ashling. I did like this story better than its precursor. With more family members included in the storyline, it achieved a more cohesive balance as far as characterizations and relationships than the previous story. In fact, the Prologue is the scene of a sexual attack on another member of the Fawkes family, although the identity of this person is not revealed until later in the story. The relationship of Konrad Schnell and Preston Fawkes serves as a foundation but not truly the only focus of Ride-Off. That job is left to their combined family of Bandi, Sasha, and Paloma and their significant others.

Each son is given their own portion of the story, including current drama and items from the past that are impinging upon their future. Conrad “Sasha” Fawkes is perhaps the most destabilized of all the children by their fathers intense and all consuming relationship. He is, by his own words, pouting and upset that he is no longer just the focus of his father’s admiration and attention. I suspect how you relate to Sasha will color how highly you will enjoy this book as this character and his actions take over the story. I found myself unable to relate to him at all in the beginning but as new information about his past is revealed, this character becomes an object of our sympathies. And that change in outlook with help engage our affections for Sasha as the story unfolds. Side by side with Sasha is Jeremy, a flamboyant makeup artist with his own agenda. I adored Jeremy. His character almost made the story for me. His is a layered persona that just oozes charm along with a depth of character sometimes missing from the other “players” in the story.

Bandi, his older lover Ned, and Paloma the step sister who arrives to upset their relationship as well as everyone elses around her become more like satellite characters, reduced to secondary status by the stories of Kon and Preston, and Sasha and Jeremy. In fact Ned leaves halfway through only to reappear at the end and tie up the loose threads of his and Bandi’s relationship. Only Paloma remains strong enough of a character to hold her own against those other couples and the author’s need to tell their stories. The fact that Paloma is such a great character that she grabs our attention in a small amount of time demonstrates Ashling’s ability to create characters that achieve instant popularity with their personas even if we may not always like their actions, something the author did with Preston Fawkes, Paloma’s father.

The sport of polo itself is reduced to a minor character here although the people on whom the story is focused are almost constantly talking about it. People ride or practice the game in small asides but the game itself is lost in this book. I don’t have an issue with this, just made note of it.

More problematic is the use of bdsm in Preston and Kon’s relationship. I do have issues with this element of the story and have done my best to research it in hopes to resolve the “red flags” that popped up in the manner in which this alternative sexuality is used. Instead of resolving my questions it only served to further highlight them.

Here’s the deal. Kon’s son was attacked back in Russia and he has not dealt with that fact. So he is angry, along with untreated PTSD issues from his injuries from his airplane crash. He won’t attend “normal” therapy sessions so their friend, a doctor and Dom, suggests BDSM as a form of therapy, a way to work through his anger issues. And that raised the first flag. I searched throughout the internet and couldn’t find any known medically approved usage of bdsm as a therapy tool. Nor any doctor or group to proscribe its usage in this manner. Perhaps Ashling can point to another source I couldn’t locate, but I couldn’t find one. Now take that fact and add to it the following facts and perhaps you will start to see the real problem here. I will list them as they are mentioned in the story:

1. No Safe Word. Kon and Pres discarded the use of it because they only have these “scenes infrequently”. But that only makes a safe word more important, not less. If these “bdsm scenes” are used infrequently than how are the partners to know each others typical physical responses to the violence that is occurring? Familiarity is helpful in these situations so a partner can tell when it is getting out of control and stop the scene.

2. Intense physical fighting,rage with dry penetration, to the point one person has to be “snapped out of it” because he no longer recognizes his partner. The one person is attacking the other, substituting him for the man who sexually abused his son. (another huge flag). The author has one partner “snap” the other one out of it by kissing and saying I love you. Not a recommended procedure because you are supposed to use words that are not ordinarily in use, not ones you use in your day to day relationship.

3. The promotion of this as a type of therapy by a doctor friend although I can’t find any mention of such anywhere on medical sites. or even dubious sites. Yes, the man is a Dom and their friend but as he is also mentioned as the doctor they went to for help with Konrad’s mental and emotional issues, he is also acting as their physician.

4. Another issue that bothered me was making your partner “a target” of all that anger by imagining them as the person who attacked their son. I still wonder at the damage that might inflict on a relationship. Because the subconscious is a tricky thing and even though those scenes were infrequent in the story, a seed has been planted that could be poisonous later on.

I spoke to several people, one from the local bdsm dungeon and another familiar with the lifestyle, about the manner in which bdsm (resistance and bondage, even autoerotic asphyxiation) is used here. Both acknowledged that they found it not only “unusual” but in one person’s words “scary”.

It would take someone with more insight and knowledge of the bdsm lifestyle then myself to know whether the author has truly portrayed it accurately but the aspects of its use as it pertains to Jon and Preaston relationship that I have mentioned continue to bother me. So many readers take it to be “gospel” if it is in a book. And from the information I did gather in no way should any of the mentioned bdsm elements in Ride Off be taken as “gospel”. Perhaps this won’t bother you as a reader but if accuracy matters, than you might want to conduct your own research and come to your own conclusions, just as I have.

Finally, there are a few other quibbles to mention. Another sexual attack on a minor that appears at the beginning of the story and then disappears until the author trots it out again towards the end to insert a certain amount of angst and drama seems contrived and unnecessary because there are so many other good things about Ride-Off to enjoy. I liked Sasha and Jeremy, I liked parts of Kon and Preston. I also enjoyed the heck out of Paloma. Weighing the finer points of this story against those issues raised by the author’s use of bdsm kept this book’s rating firmly in the middle of the scale. If those things don’t bother you, than you might consider this a 4 star story and enjoy it more throughly than I did.

I would recommend this book to those of you who loved Fire Horse (Polo #1) and the other offerings by this author. I would also recommend it with reservations to others looking for a story with multiple love relationships, including those with a kink, and a family saga to go along with it. But take heed and don’t take the bdsm at face value. Do your own research, make up your own mind. And then tell me what you thought about this story and that aspect of it. I can’t wait to hear what you thought about it all. Write me.

Cover art by Anne Cain is absolutely gorgeous and perfect for the series and novel within.

Book Details:

Paperback, 240 pages

Published October 18th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN 1627982647 (ISBN13: 9781627982641)

series Polo

ScatteredThoughts Summary of Reviews for November 2013

November really was such an extraordinary month for books. It almost makes me giddy with joy. I can’t remember when I last had more 5 and 4 star rated books as I have had this month. And their genres and plots ran the spectrum, from contemporary fiction to what I might best describe as fantasy horror, making this truly a rainbow month of great books by outstanding authors.

There are quite a few books that are a part of a series and should best be read in order, while others are stand alone pieces of fiction, with one or two in between in that they are a part of a series but could be read by themselves. It’s all in the reviews which I have linked to each title.

The holidays are upon us and ebook gift cards are a wonderful way of sharing books with those we love. Make a list, check it twice to make sure you have the titles listed below on yours:
November 2013 Review Summary

*part of a series

5 Star Rating:

Corruption by Eden Winters*, contemporary
Encore by Shira Anthony*, contemporary
Lessons for Suspicious Minds by Charlie Cochrane*,historical
Shock & Awe by Abigail Roux*, contemporary
Sweet and Sour by Astrid Amara, contemporary
The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men by Eric Arvin*, horror, fantasy
Too Many Fairy Princes by Alex Beecroft, fantasy

4 to 4.75 Star Rating:

After The Fall by L.A. Witt* (4 stars), contemporary
Bar None Anthology (4.5 stars) mix of contemporary, scifi
Close Quarter by Anna Zabo*(4.75 stars), supernatural
Family Texas by R.J. Scott*, (4.5 stars), contemporary
Good Boy by Anne Tenino*, (4.5 stars),contemporary
How I Met Your Father by LB Gregg (4.25 stars), contemporary
Illumination by Rowan Speedwell (4.5 stars), contemporary
Long the Mile by Ally Blue (4.25 stars), contemporary
The Retreat by BA Tortuga*, (4 stars), contemporary
The Stars that Tremble by Kate McMurray, (4 stars), contemporary

3 to 3.75 Star Rating:

Captive Magic by Angela Benedetti* (3.75 stars), paranormal
Hat Trick by Chelle Dugan (3 stars), contemporary
The Blight by Missouri Dalton (3.75 stars), fantasy

2 to 2.75 Star Rating:
N/A

Oh, What a Month It Was and the Week Ahead in Reviews

What a splendid month was had in November at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words. There were great author guest blogs by LB Gregg (How I Met Your Father), Ally Blue (Long the Mile), Abigail Roux (Shock & Awe), and Shira Anthony (Encore). The Pulp Friction group of Havan Fellows, Laura Harner, Lee Brazil, and Tom Webb started the month and will return in December to finish up the year. There was a cornucopia of contests and great books galore. And then there was Thanksgiving and Hanukkah on the same day, something that won’t happen again for over 70,000 years. Again, just amazing and a Astrid Amara story to help celebrate (and pickle recipes as well).

So I am starting off the week with a Summary of Reviews for November 2013. Really, it was astonishing to see the range of books and authors reviewed this month. There was everything from Eric Arvin’s horror fantasy The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men to Charlie Cochrane’s Lessons for Suspicious Minds, an historical novel in her Cambridge Fellows series. December is looking to be just as strong a month as November. I can’t wait to get started!

So here is our week in reviews:

Monday, Dec. 2: Summary of Reviews for November 2013

Tuesday, Dec. 3: Ride-Off by Mickie B. Ashling

Wed., Dec. 4: Blue River by Theo Fenraven

Thursday, Dec. 5: Continental Divide by Laura Harner and Lisa Worrell

Friday, Dec. 6: Guest Blog by Z.A. Maxfield, Lost and Found Tour/contest

Sat., Dec. 7: Lost and Found by ZA Maxfield

Review: Long the Mile by Ally Blue

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

“Seven out of 10 Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless.” – Pras Michel

When Judah Jackson is released from prison he has exactly a bag containing two pairs of pants, a shirt, some underwear, socks and $300 in cash, a far cry from the wealthy man who entered prison convicted of insider trading. At first, Judah thinks it will only be a matter of time before he is working and getting his business back together. But soon the reality of his situation and new life as a ex con sets in. No one will hire him and without an income he loses his apartment and ends out on the streets, vulnerable, angry, and alone.

Tobias Simonsen has been homeless for over a year and finds that he has almost adjusted to his status as a man without a job or place to call his own. Not even his degrees and experience in the restaurant business have been enough to save him from his current life and he is now beyond despair that it will change. Then he saves a man being beaten in an alley, a man once wealthy and now painfully unable to fend for himself on the streets of Ashville.

Together Judah and Toby find a connection that begins to lift them up into friendship and then something more. When their relationship starts to heal the wounds for both men, they start to hope for a future together. Then a change in one man’s situation starts a chain reaction of emotions and events that could shatter their bond forever. Will their faith in each other and their love keep them together even when reason tells them they will part?

What a moving and timely story from Ally Blue! Long the Mile focuses on the plight of homeless, a heartbreaking statistic that is rising throughout the nation, especially in these economic times. Instead of faceless numbers Ally Blue takes this tragic reality for so many and brings it down to an intimate and relatable level with the characters of Judah and Toby, two men of different backgrounds and education who end up in the same landscape of homelessness and despair.

This is a tough topic to use as a center for a romance, especially if one of the men is also someone whose criminal conduct and arrogance got him convicted of a felony and sent to prison. Our first introduction to Judah Jackson is a risky one on the part of the author. Judah is angry, still arrogant, and not especially sorry that he committed a crime, only that he got caught. Think of the white collar criminals such as Kenneth Lay of Enron and you can see how such a character might invite scorn instead of sympathy. But that sneering man we meet as he is leaving prison is soon to get a shocking comeuppance as Judah tries to find a job while his small pocket of funds dwindles. Ally Blue takes us into his mindset as Judah unravels emotionally and physically until he finally runs out of options and ends up on the streets of Asheville. It is a scary picture, made all the more real by the author’s authentic descriptions and her clear understanding of the humiliation, despair and fear that is the constant state of those who are homeless.

To balance out the picture she is creating, Blue then gives us Toby Simonsen, an educated young man who was working on his career, with a bright future ahead of him until the economy crashed along with his job. With all hotels and service establishments in trouble, the jobs vanished and so did the hopes of thousands of people along with them. I loved Toby and my heart broke for him because we understand that Toby has given up after a year on the streets. The constant search for work as well as the constant rejection wears upon the soul and only the goodness and understanding of Father Bill and the shelter at Holy Innocents has helped to save him. Ally Blue has endowed Toby with an inner strength that feels real, born out of need and Toby’s innate goodness. Toby is definitely the easier of the two men to connect with.

Slowly over the course of Long The Mile, the real inner Judah starts to appear along with his history that makes the man he became at least understandable if not always likable. And the reader needs that in order to accept Toby’s attraction and eventual love for Judah. If this story has an identifiable weakness, it arrives in the latter part of the book when a event arrives that threatens to tear the men apart. I think the situation that signals a change in their lives is a perfectly realistic one as is its separate effect on each of them. My only quibble is that Toby seems a little oblivious to what a change in the dynamics would have on Judah with his background. I kept thinking that perhaps a little more exposition and length would have helped alleviate what felt like a rushed resolution to a terrific story.

But that quibble aside, Long the Mile is a timely tale no matter what time of year it is. With its focus on a homeless population that is ever present, Ally Blue has brought this tragedy home and given it two faces we can identify and sympathize with. When you add the fact that young LGBT youth are a large part of that statistic through no fault of their own other than being gay and the shame and horror deepens.

I highly recommend this book to all based on its own merit as a heartwarming romance. But Ally Blue and the publisher just made it easier by donating 20 percent of all proceeds to the Ali Forney Center. So run, don’t walk and grab it right up. You will be getting a wonderful story and helping LBGTQ youth as well.

Special Notes:

20% of all proceeds from this title are donated to the Ali Forney Center in New York, whose mission “is to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth from the harm of homelessness, and to support them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood.” To learn more about this charity or to donate directly, please visit http://www.aliforneycenter.org/.

Book Details:

140 pages

Expected publication: December 2nd 2013 by Riptide Publishing

ISBN13 9781626490819

url http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/long-m

Ally Blue Contest and Guest Blog for “Long The Mile”

ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to have Ally Blue with us today to talk about her latest release, the moving story Long the Mile for Riptide Publishing. We have a contest to go along with Ally’s guest blog. The contest details and the Rafflecopter links are listed at the bottom of today’s post. Now, let’s welcome Ally Blue!

Hi folks! I’m Ally Blue, and I’m wandering the internet this week talking about my new book, Long the Mile, part of the Home for the Holidays collection from Riptide Publishing. I’m super excited about this book, not only because I love the characters and the setting (Asheville, NC; my town!) but also because it’s raising money for the Ali Forney Center for homeless GLBTQ youth. It’s a wonderful cause

When my lovely and fabulous editor, Dr. Sarah Frantz, first contacted me about being a part of this Christmas collection, I was interested for a whole list of reasons. First of all, I already knew and respected Sarah as a romance fiction scholar and as a person, so that went a long way. Also, I’d heard good buzz about Riptide both from a reader and an author perspective. Always a good thing. The thing that probably sealed the deal was that twenty percent of the proceeds both from each individual book and from the collection go to the Ali Forney Center. How could I pass that up? The answer is, I could not.

After saying “YES! A thousand times, yes!” the next question was what to write? It needed to be a gay (in this case, m/m) romance. It needed to have a Christmas setting, with a theme of “home” in whatever way I wanted to interpret it. When I started pondering, I found that the answer came to me easily. I was going to take the theme very literally, incorporate our chosen charity, and write about homeless characters who are finding their homes again, both physically and emotionally. Thus Judah Jackson and Tobias Simensen were born.

The setting was easy too. Asheville is a wonderful, colorful, fantastic city, and like every city, we have too many people living day to day without any permanent shelter. I can’t tell anyone’s true story. All I can do is invent one. Or in this case, two. But I wanted to set this book in Asheville. I wanted to imagine what it might be like for my two guys – one who had been homeless for a while, and one who goes from rich to homeless during the book – to meet, get to know each other, and fall in love while living on the street. I wanted to consider how their situation would affect their relationship, and how that relationship would change when the situation changed.

I have to say, I’m pleased with how the book turned out. I hope all of you will be too Thank you so much for stopping by to read today! Enjoy Long the Mile, and all the other books in the Home for the Holidays collection!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About Long the Mile:

Sometimes it takes losing everything to find what you really need.

When Judah went to prison for insider trading, he lost everything he thought was important: his business, his money, his power. But when he gets out, homelessness strips him of the one thing he has left: his self-respect. When another homeless man saves him from a beating, he begins to learn to rely on the goodness of those around him.

For Toby, life on the streets has become familiar. Comfortable. So comfortable he wonders if he’s given up on changing his life for the better. Then comes Judah. Formerly rich, newly homeless, all his pride and attitude gone along with his material possessions. Helping Judah feels good. Their unexpected connection—physical and beyond—feels even better.

Their shared situation nurtures a growing closeness that blossoms into something deeper. But when change comes knocking, it will take all their strength to keep fear and insecurity from tearing them apart.

20% of all proceeds from this title are donated to the Ali Forney Center in New York, whose mission “is to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth from the harm of homelessness, and to support them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood.” To learn more about this charity or to donate directly, please visit http://www.aliforneycenter.org/.

Author Bio:
Ally Blue is acknowledged by the world at large (or at least by her heroes, who tend to suffer a lot) as the Popess of Gay Angst. She has a great big suggestively-shaped hat and rides in a bullet-proof Plexiglas bubble in Christmas parades. Her harem of manwhores does double duty as bodyguards and inspirational entertainment. Her favorite band is Radiohead, her favorite color is lime green and her favorite way to waste a perfectly good Saturday is to watch all three extended version LOTR movies in a row. Her ultimate dream is to one day ditch the evil day job and support the family on manlove alone. She is not a hippie or a brain surgeon, no matter what her kids’ friends say.

Connect with Ally on the interwebs: Twitter Facebook profile Facebook fan page Tumblr Pinterest Fiction With Friction group blog Goodreads Love Is Blue Yahoo group

Contest Details:

Ally’s giveaway:
Comment on this post or any of the other posts in the tour, and you’ll be entered to win an ebook copy of Demon Dog, book one in my Mojo Mysteries series. I’ll pick a winner on December 1st at 5 p.m. EST. Contest is valid worldwide.

Enter your details in the Rafflecopter below and leave a blog post comment to gain entry in the *Home for the Holidays* giveaway! This week of the tour closes at midnight, EST, on November 30th. One grand prize winner will be contacted at the end of the tour on December 16th. Contest is valid worldwide.

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Review: Too Many Fairy Princes by Alex Beecroft

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

King Volmar of Vagar was dying. Well, in truth, the King had been assassinated 100 years before, but hung on after death due to enchantments. Now those magics have run out and the king will die completely. But who will reign after him? One son has been banished for treason, the remaining four will fight for the throne. But fairy legends have always stated that the youngest son will win out, no matter the circumstances. So when their father, the King, gives them all one month to prove themselves worthy of the title, the fallout is disasterous. One brother starts wars, another assassinates the youngest hoping to take his place, and Prince Kjarten? All he hoped was to stay out of the way and continue his studies but when Gisli, his youngest brother is killed by the second youngest, Tyrnir, Prince Kjarten realizes it is only a matter of time before his ambitious brothers turn on him.

When the assassination attempt happens, Kjarten flings himself, injured, into the mortal world hoping to hide. The fairy prince has heard tales of the horrible humans and the nasty fate that awaits him at their hands. But nothing has prepared Kjarten for the truth when he is found by an artist searching for the answers to his own problems and future.

Artist and art gallery worker Joel Wilson life is full of problems. His ex boyfriend was a jerk who left him penniless and his boss who owns the art gallery where Joel works and shows his paintings is in financial trouble. In fact, that financial trouble involves loan sharks and other assorted criminals. Joel doesn’t know what to do. Then he finds an elf lying injured in an alleyway near his home and everything changes. Can a mortal artist and a elf prince pull together to save the kingdom and find true love?

Magical, funny and absolutely absorbing. Those are the words that spring to mind when asked to describe my feelings after reading Too Many Fairy Princes by Alex Beecroft. So many things to love about this book. First off? Alex Beecroft keeps me off center with her characters. They aren’t what I expect them to be. And that’s at any point in time during the narrative. An elf prince? Why, gorgeous and etheral of course. But also self centered, isolated (by choice) so completely from his family that other important events escape him completely? That’s Kjarten too. Somewhat arrogant and cruel, although less so than his brothers? Check. Not exactly your normal fictional elf. Or maybe he is if you return to the old ways of thinking about the Fae. Then the personalities of Kjarten ring true.

But nothing about the characters you will meet within these pages are static portraits. No, these beings grow and change before your eyes, their natures metamorphosing along with the events, while still staying true to who they are at the most basic. Beecroft’s characterizations are marvelous and not just the elves either. From the Queen of England to the remarkable Joel Wilson, her human beings are more than a match for any elf, or goblin as the case may be. I loved them all too. It is so easy to become invested in all these people, elf and human alike because the author has made the reader an intimate companion to them and their worlds. She brings us into their thoughts and hearts so that their vulnerability and insecurities help engage our affections immediately. And her worlds? Magical as well as mundane.

World building is also a creative gift and Alex Beecroft has that in spades too. I loved the kingdom of Vagar. Ok, I didn’t love it. Its hateful and cold. But its also fascinating and full of creatures to amaze and wonder at. Including a dead king who is still around to muck up things for the kingdom. Here is King Volmar:

“Now we can start.” “Thank you for that, youngest,” King Volmar of Vagar said in a dry voice, as Kjartan slipped into his place below Bjarti, with a whisper of silk and a curling trace of the scent of honeysuckle. “Since Kjartan has taken up all the time I had set aside in which to do this gently, I shall do it harshly and blame him.”

No change there, Kjartan thought, watching a new-hatched moth make its way out of his father’s mouth and fly towards the light of the sea.

“Today,” the king went on, stopping carefully between each phrase to reinflate his lungs, “marks the hundredth anniversary of my execution by the sea-people, at the instigation of your exiled brother Dagnar. I like to think that the intervening years have rubbed their faces in the fact that they didn’t win that one.”

He paused to wipe a cobweb from his left eye. “However, it seems the magic sustaining me can only do so much, and I have…” a court mage leaned down to whisper in his ear, “… only a month or so left.”

“No!” cried Gisli, apparently quite genuinely. “Father!”

Kjartan and Tyrnir shook their heads, one fondly, one in irritation. Bjarti just waited to find out what would happen next.

“So each of you has one month,” the king continued, unmoved, “to prove himself worthy of inheriting the throne.” As he wiped more moth larvae from his lips, his eyelids closed, apparently by themselves. He dragged them open wearily. “There was meant to be more pomp and ceremony, but Kjartan spoiled that. So off you go. Do something impressive, come back in a month and a day with proof, and I will decide between you.”

The King is literally being cocooned before their eyes, moth larvae spinning inside him, cobwebs flowing over his features. At one point, a servant licks the king’s eyeballs to give them moisture. Everything about the king is both repellent and compelling. A marvelous portrait in every way, a true mxture of evil and promise. And we see this type of thing over and over again in this story.

The human world is just as vibrant as the elf one. Life is not always kind to the people there either. And one can be a human and be as isolated from those around him by choice as an elf prince. Beecroft manages to draw comparisons between two very different individuals and their backgrounds with subtlety and finesse.

This book grabbed me from the start. I laughed, gasped and wholeheartedly fell in love with all the characters involved here. And I loved the ending too, something that seems to be missing from so many stories these days. So while I was sorry to leave their company, I loved the way in which the author tied up the loose ends. I heartedly recommend this book. It’s terrific. Run, don’t walk, and pick it up.

Cover by Lou Harper is just perfect. I loved it as much as i did the story. Great job.

Book Details:

Kindle Edition

Expected publication: November 5th 2013 by Samhain Publishing

ISBN13 B00D89OG9G

edition language English

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