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Review of Lessons in Power (Cambridge Fellows #4) by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 5 stars

Cambridge 1907

After the tumultuous doings where Orlando lost his memory albeit temporarily, Drs. Coppersmith and Stewart are now happily ensconced in their newly purchased home, Forsythia Cottage.  But it’s not long before mystery and murder find them again.  Matthew Ainslie, friend and acquaintance (depending upon which of the men you talked to, Orlando never quite forgiving Matthew for his actions on Jersey) has a problem.  An old flame of Matthew’s is accused of murder and Matthew doesn’t believe he did it.

As Matthew lays out the details of the case to them, the murder hits much closer to home than either one of them could have imagined.  The murdered man is none other than one of the boys who sexually abused a very young Jonty over the course of a semester at boarding school.  The news brings memories of the abuse back to Jonty with a vengeance, shattering his carefully fabricated acceptance of those events.  As Jonty withdraws from Orlando and their relationship, a second murder is committed and the other abuser from his past is found dead.  As suspicion falls upon his beloved Dr. Stewart, Orlando and Jonty race to find the murderer and help Jonty finally find some measure of peace with his past.

For me this is a tour de force from Charlie Cochrane.  Lessons in Power still contains dialog that delights with the lightness of Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics and the shear witty remarks of Oscar Wilde.  But the reality of rape and the long term trauma, bitterness and sense of violation that rape victims contend with lives in these pages as well.  And that incongruity serves to highlight the horror and damage done not only to Jonty but other victims of the same sexual violence that seems to know no age or continental restraints.

Threads of Jonty’s abuse have been trickling through the storylines of the previous books in this series.  Thunderstorms leave him scared and shaken into silence until Orlando brings him out of it.  And when asked, Jonty has said that he has told no one the names of his attackers lest his father or Orlando go after them.  But here that abuse and the true torment that Jonty has endured is brought to the front and center of the story.  It is with amazing skill and talent, that Charlie Cochrane never loses the flavor of Edwardian England and its settings in her stories, from the Stewart family castle to the hallowed halls of St. Brides.  Here the sun never sets on England even as Orlando and Jonty deal with the realities of murderers and child abusers.   The author treats all with sensitivity and care even as she made me weep with Jonty and his family.

It took me several books before Jonty and Orlando became near and dear to my heart, so I would recommend that all the books be read in sequence.  Otherwise certain references and characters mentioned here can’t be understood in the context they need to be.  I have come to love all the characters here, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, Miss Peters, Mr. Wilson, all of them and find I cannot go to long before I need to head off to St. Brides and another mystery with my Cambridge Fellows.  This is a wonderful book in a wonderful series.  Don’t let either of them pass you by.

Cover: I think this cover is perfect.  I love the sepia tones and graphics of the haunted looking young man in the classroom.  I just wish the fonts were solid and one type for ease of reading.

Available from Samhain Publishing, Amazon, and ARE.

Review of All The Kings Men by R.J. Scott

Review written for JoyfullyJay blog on 3/24/2012

Rating: 4 stars

Review of All the King’s Men by R. J. Scott

When Nathan Richardson and his boyfriend, Ryan Ortiz, broke up over Ryan’s cheating, Nathan headed for LA to pursue his acting career.  But all those miles between them didn’t stop their love or need for each other.  Months later, Ryan is heading for Los Angeles, determined to reunite with Nathan, beg his forgiveness, and hope that love will bring him home.  But Nature throws the biggest obstacle of all in their path, when the doomsday earthquake hits southern California.  Now LA is destroyed, Nathan is trapped under the rubble and Ryan is his only hope.

I liked the characters of Nathan and Ryan although they did not seem to have the usual amount of layers to them that I have come to expect of R. J. Scott.  Ryan’s insecurity that led to his infidelity never felt particularly real, in fact of the two main characters, he is the least fleshed out.  Nathan on the other hand, with his impetuous flight to California, and then his regret over ending his relationship, seems credibly young in outlook and emotions.  It is RJ Scott’s vivid descriptions of the destruction of Los Angeles, the fires, the carnage that make this book come to life.  The shear desperation that comes from the inability to get to a road, use a cell phone, and even finding a method of transportation when all is collapsing around you rises up from each and every page as Ryan struggles with the new harsh reality of the earthquake and its aftershocks.  The author skillfully pulls you along with Ryan up the hills above LA, now burning with wildfires.  All the angst and heartbreaking moments that occur during that climb will stay with you and remind you of similar scenes on the screen during any natural disaster.  Nathan, trapped under the rubble of his building, alone with his fears and pain, brings the plight of the disaster victim home, the reader empathizing with him in the dark wondering if anyone will come.

In many ways this story is also a cautionary tale of how easily the infrastructure we all depend upon can crumble.  While it is clear that RJ Scott has done her research, it is a credit to her that it never feels that way, from the National Guard to the makeshift mobile medical tents, all beautifully rendered in every detail. The true main character here is not Ryan or Nathan, it is the earthquake and the destructive power of Nature.  It will leave the greatest impact upon the reader.

If you are wondering why this book did not get a higher rating with all I have said about it above, it comes down to two things, one minor and one huge.  The prologue and the epilogue to be exact.  The Prologue is short and gives us information that most of us already know, that California is prone to earthquakes and that the biggest is yet to come.  This is all general knowledge, but ok, just a minor quibble.  But oh, that Epilogue. That’s simply not needed, and to be it bluntly kind of cheesy.  And not in a good way cheesy.  I mean cheesy in the way they tacked on endings to the disaster films of the 70’s and 80’s way.  As the last credits rolled, pictures popped up of the survivors along with a couple of lines of text, telling us what happened to them.  You know what I mean,  something like  ” Little Sally, cute child, lived to become a famous Astronaut/Brain Surgeon,  likable Granny lived to a ripe old age of 100.  Peter Everyman died in a car accident a year after fill in the blank happened.”  I believe the SyFy channel is still carrying on this proud tradition in its over the top “cheesy in a good way” movies.  That I applaud while this appalled.  I would not have minded if it stated that Ryan and Nathan moved where ever but it gave too much information about them and everyone else, more than I needed or wanted to know.  But the worst was to come.  That would be the ridiculous future of Los Angeles laid out here.  It looked at though it was a outline for a book she meant to write but then threw it in a part of the epilogue.  It had nothing to do with Nathan and Ryan, more like History of LA, part Deau.  In fact, that almost brought the rating down to a 3 I disliked it that much.  But if you discard the prologue, ditch the epilogue, then you have a great tale.  So yes, read this, but like an Oreo cookie, start with the Middle, then the prologue if you have too and give the end away.  Really, you don’t need it! Trust me.

Cover:  I liked the cover with the flames and helicopter but wonder at the pictures of the naked guys.  Did they lose their clothes in the fire?  Because as both protagonists were so badly injured for the entire book, sex was the last thing on their minds. *Head desk*.  Half a great cover.

Review of The Wrong Note by Isabella Carter

Rating: 4.45

Rue has a problem.  The new store next to his is blaring its music so loud he can’t think, and the new owner is taking his parking spot.  What is a guy to do?  When he can’t stand it anymore, he rushes over to confront the owner and meets Jocelyn.  Green eyes, triple earrings and oh so hot.  Now he has a new problem.

This was such a cute story, perfect for Valentine’s Day.  There are really only 4 characters in the whole story, all well done in such a short length.  I could feel Rue’s frustration building as the heavy metal pounded through the walls, and his snarky assistant rolling her eyes at her boss.  Short, sweet but not sappy.

At 3,800 words, it is part of the Kiss Me Quick collection of short stories celebrating love from Less Than Three Press.  If the rest of the collection is as sweet as this one, I can’t wait to read them. Great for Valentine’s Day or any day where love is in the air.

Cover:  The cover is just a picture of storefronts.  I wish that a little bit more of imagination had been used to make it more relevant to the story.

The Wrong Note is published by Less Than Three Press.

New Recipe Boeuf en Croute by Laura Calder

Rating: 5 stars

We are slowly working our way through Laura Calder’s French Cooking At Home cookbook and this was our latest recipe we tried.  Once again, it was simple and outstanding.  We had to try it twice to get it the way we wanted but it will be a fixture in  dinners to come no matter the season.

One note is that our first go around we purchased a beef tenderloin and didn’t realize it wasn’t one piece but two.  That was a mistake we remedied the next time we cooked this. If you don’t have a single tenderloin, it cooks faster and the beef falls apart when slicing it.  Not pretty.  So save yourself a drier piece of beef that won’t look like the picture and make sure to start with one great beef tenderloin.  Check with the butcher if you aren’t sure you are getting the right thing.

So here goes:

Ingredients:

1 1/3 pounds beef tenderloin -single piece
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
Olive oil, for drizzling
2 shallots, minced
1 pound mushrooms, very finely chopped (can be any type, I used crimini)
1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup Madeira
2 tablespoons creme fraiche (Roots usually has it, or you can substitute sour cream)
Handful chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 (1 pound) packages puff pastry or frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
1 teaspoon water

Season the beef with salt, and pepper. Melt a tablespoon of butter with a drizzle of the olive oil in a saute pan until hot, then sear the beef on all sides. Remove from the pan to a board, and let cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

In the same pan as the beef, prepare the mushroom : Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and fry the shallots until translucent. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf, and cook until very tender. Pour over the Madeira, and bring to a boil, and cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Add the creme fraiche and cook down to a very thick paste. Season the mixture with salt, and pepper. Stir through the chopped parsley.

Roll out one block of pastry to a rectangle large enough to fit the meat with a roomy border. Place on a baking sheet. Remove the fillet from the refrigerator, and unwrap. Spoon the mushroom mixture into the center of the pastry and set the meat on top. Roll out the second sheet to fit over the whole fillet generously. In a small bowl, beat together the egg and 1 teaspoon water. Brush the margins of the bottom pastry with egg wash, then drape the second sheet over, pressing to seal well. Trim the edge to a 1-inch border. Crimp the edges with your fingers. Refrigerate until ready to bake. (Note: I love that this can be prepared ahead of time).

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Brush the whole surface of the pastry with egg wash and make two slits in the top with a knife to allow steam to escape. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees F, and continue to bake 20 minutes, depending on how well you like your meat done. Remove from the oven and let stand about 10 minutes before serving in slices.

Review of Battle Buddy by S.J.D. Peterson

Rating: 4.8 stars

For Shane Tucker, the Army and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell give him two reasons to leave his small home town in Texas.  One, Shane saw the Army as a “great alternative to mucking cow shit and mending fences.”* Two, as a gay 19 year old, DADT was the perfect excuse to stay closeted.  It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t out, it was the Army’s!

Basic training upends Shane’s world in so many unexpected ways.  It’s both brutal and exhilarating.  He entered thinking he was in the best shape of his life and BT is telling him he was an idiot.  But he is also finding out as the training gets harder that he is good at it, loving the challenges and excelling no matter the obstacles.  Until he is assigned a Battle Buddy.  Owen Bradford is a six foot 4 inch mountain of muscle, cocky and gorgeous.  With Owen as his Battle Buddy, Shane has a whole new set of  problems, including temptation 24/7.  What’s a guy to do?

I loved this short story on so many levels.  One, Shane Tucker is perfect.  By that I mean, his voice is perfect for a small town 19 year with his first introduction to a larger world, in this case, the Army.  As you hear his thoughts, from his perceived notions of what the Army life would entail then through his introduction to the realities of basic training, you  just want to shake your head at his naivete and bone headedness, but it is always with affection.  He is just so damn likable.  And when the conflicts start when he is assigned Owen as his Battle Buddy, then his insights are priceless.

I will admit to looking up Battle Buddy.  I mean here you have two words that to me couldn’t be farther apart.  Battle is obvious with its association with war.  But Buddy?  Images of kindergarten and lunch buddies came immediately to mind.  But after some thought, I could see the rationale behind it.  Someone to have your back, be constantly at your side at all times.  So really not that far removed from kindergarten after all.  The author has clearly done her research and it shows throughout the story.

And the story is hot.  Sexually, intensely hot.  Just as you would expect from two young men in their prime, full of testosterone, brimming with physicality.

The story ends where it should for its length.  But there was hope at the end that we might learn more of what the future holds for Shane and Owen in another story.  I would love to see them return, especially now that DADT has fallen.  But either way, pick up this story.  It’s terrific.

Cover: I thought it was a little dark in color.  I am a fan of using just a partial face of the models.  A great tease and it lets the reader fill in the rest with their imagination.  But where is my farm boy, Shane in all of this?

 

*SJD Peterson (2012-03-12 04:00:00+00:00). Battle Buddy (Kindle Location 52). Silver Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Available: Silver Publishing, Amazon, ARE

A Recipe To Love – Pork Chops with Green Olives and Lemons

I have written about French Cooking At Home, a show with Laura Calder that has become an addiction of mine.  Her recipes are simple but oh so tasty.  I am now working my way through her first cookbook and haven’t found a recipe I haven’t loved.  This latest one came not from her book but from the show.

Once again, Laura Calder has come through with a wonderful receipe.  I tried it out and with a few changes, it came out so scrumptious that it is now on my favorites list:

Pork Chops with Green Olives and Lemons

Ingredients:

  • 2 pork chops, on the bone
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Pinch sugar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3/4 cup/175 ml white wine
  • Skin 1 preserved lemon, chopped (I used the zest of 1 Lemon and that worked just fine)
  • 1/2 cup/85 g green olives, with pits  (I used regular green olives, they worked great)
  • Small handful chopped fresh rosemary or thyme ( I have now tried it both ways, each tastes great).
  • Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
  • Branch cherry tomatoes
  • Olive oil, for drizzling

Directions:

Season the chops with salt and pepper. “Season” also with sugar, sprinkling judiciously over both sides of the chops, as if it were salt. Heat the oil in a saute pan and brown the chops on both sides. Pour over the wine, and add half the lemon and olives, along with the rosemary. Cover, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Uncover and test doneness. Boil down the liquid a little, if necessary, toss in the remaining olives and preserved lemon. Serve with the juices spooned over and a branch of roasted baby tomatoes on the side.

To roast a branch of cherry tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lay the tomatoes on a baking sheet, dribble over a little olive oil, and bake at until the skins have wrinkled and the fruit is soft, 20 minutes to half an hour.

This is great if you are only cooking for 2 people, and easy to double if you are cooking for 4.  I could also see putting the pork chops over a bed of wild rice.  And that sauce?  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Hmmmmm……..so good.

Review of Foreshock by Kari Gregg and Muses Upon a Earthquake

Before I get into my review, I want to say that I remember this day very well.  Before August 23, 2011, all the quakes felt here in the Washington Metropolitan area (MD-DC-VA) were very minor.  Most people were never even aware that they happened, so uneventful were they, along the lines of 2.1 or lower on the Richter Scale. So I, along with everyone else, was not prepared for the shaking Mother Nature gave us that day.

I was sitting at the computer when my terriers went nuts, running around my chair and barking like mad (I know, I know…how is that different from normal terrier behavior but trust me it was).  My first thought was that the neighbor’s Golden Retriever was loose again, something my little pack finds very offensive.  But then the house started to shake.  I am not talking little gentle shakes.  I am talking picture swinging, vase walking shakes.

So of course, I run out the front door, why I don’t know.  Perhaps looking for confirmation that no Transformers were headed over the horizon, whatever.  Everything looked normal.  Back inside and scanning the news online, I quickly learned that we  had a 5.9 earthquake and it was felt over a large geographical area even up into New York.  The videos started streaming online.  I watched amazed.  Now almost a year later, the Washington Monument is still closed for repairs, the Washington Cathedral is looking at years to repair the wonderful stone statues and blocks destroyed that day as the money needed continues to climb.  In the small town of Louisa, Virginia near the epicenter, schools and buildings are still closed, the damage unbelievable. Most of all, we lost the certainty that large earthquakes only happened on the West Coast, that it could never happen to us.  Mother Nature 1,  Humans 0.  It does tend to work out that way, we just forget that it does.

So I loved reading a short story with the earthquake figuring into the plot.  And even better?  Kari Gregg is donating 100 percent of her profits from this story to The Trevor Project which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention to LGBTQ youth.  So much applause and snaps to Kari Gregg for such a wonderful gift.   Now on to the review.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Eric Mulholand loves his boyfriend, Kyle, even though Kyle seems determined to destroy their apartment through his attempts at DIY projects.  Kyle Armentrout is a contradiction in so many ways.  Tall, nordic, handsome, twice divorced, and father of five. After 20 years of repressing his true nature, Kyle is now madly in love with a man and a complete bottom in the bed.  These are facts that are still taking some adjustment.  So to compensate for a perceived  “less manly” self image, Kyle has decided that being a Mr. Fixit is the answer.  Only problem is that he can’t fix things, anything to be exact.  And the plumbing, the electricity, even Eric’s tires have suffered. So as hot as Kyle looks in a tool belt, Eric has had enough.

One argument leads to some very hot makeup sex.  And then the earth shakes.  It doesn’t take either man very long to realize that there are emotional earthquakes as well as the physical ones, and they have just been through both.  And survived both with their love and apartment well intact.  Such a great metaphor as nothing can shake a physical foundation like an earthquake and nothing can shake up a person from their emotional moorings or foundation like love can.  Great characters who cracked me up while making me understand how fragile relationships and self images can be.  I wish the story had been longer but no matter, I enjoyed my stay with both of them.

Cover:  A little dark but in keeping with an earthquake plot, but other than that, just perfect.  Loved the fonts as they are so easy to read.

Available from Riptide Publishing, Amazon, ARE.

And check in with The Trevor Project.  You won’t be sorry.

Review of The Storyteller by Blaine Arden

The Storyteller

Rating:  4 stars

The Storyteller is an amazing short story now available as a free read from Storm Moon Press.  It is narrated by Oleg, a young man who has been banished to his family’s country estate because of his blindness.  “Sightless, useless, an abomination”, he is tended to by Neiam who has been hired by his Father to take care of both the estate and his son.  That’s the bare bones of the story that is remarkable in so many ways.

Using Oleg to narrate the story forces the reader to perceive life as he does. Oleg feels the sunlight on his naked body, he listens to the hitch in Neiam’s voice and hears the shuffling of his caretaker’s feet that marks the path he is to follow.  You learn only as much as Oleg does about the estate they are living on.

Neiam is not the typical caretaker/servant either.  Neiam is Oleg’s lover and the storyteller in the title.  As Neiam tells his stories, he forces Oleg to follow his voice and take steps through the house, helping Oleg gain independence and confidence.  Another layer added to this story is the D/s role in their relationship.  Neiam, the servant, is Dominant while Oleg, son of royalty, is happily submissive.  Their sexual relationship is sensual and oh so hot. The D/s here is gentle and loving as Neiam steers Oleg towards self sufficiency.

There is no mention of time and place.  It could be Russia in the 1700’s or a alternate universe.  It really doesn’t matter as the focus is on Oleg and Neiam. Their day is interrupted by “Father” and serves to underscore Oleg’s relationship with his family.

At 3,600 words, this story is short and sweet.  The Storyteller takes place on Valentine’s Day, a perfect time to read this wonderful story.

Cover: This cover is perfection.  Lush and romantic, it really suits the story.

 

Review of The Ronin and The Fox by Cornelia Grey

Reviewed for JoyfullyJay on 3/10/12

Rating: 3.75 stars

The Ronin And The Fox

Following a dispute with his lord, Samurai Hajime left his master’s realm to become ronin, a masterless samurai.  As he journeys through one village, the innkeeper begs him to stay and help drive away a kitsune or fox spirit that is bedeviling the village.  Lacking destination or purpose to his life, Hajime agrees to help.  A seductive encounter with Katsura, a gorgeous young man in his room at the inn leaves Hajime reeling and drained. Imagine Hajime’s surprise when upon capturing the kitsune, it turns out that the fox spirit is the same young man who seduced him that first night at the inn.

Being captured is the least of Katsura’s troubles.  The pearl containing his soul has been stolen by an unscrupulous healer who has forced him to do his bidding.  It is the yamabushi or religious healer, not Katsura, who is the real cause of the village’s problems.

Hajime feels sorry for the kitsune and is honorbound to help Katsura retrieve his soul and save the village from further harm.  But their partnership is not without obstacles, including former samarai, spells, encounters with water spirits, and issues of trust.  Will they obtain the pearl and save the village and Katsura?  Or will the kitsune’s own nature bring disaster upon them both.

I will state right from the start that I liked the characters of Hajime and Katsura.  Hajime is a person who, having achieved his goal of being a samurai, finds himself a round peg trying to fit into a square hole.  He’s kind, a man of honor who doesn’t do well with authority and just wants to help people.  Definitely not samurai material.  Katsura is a long-lived kitsune but still retains his impulsiveness and folly of youth.  It is due to his own stupidity and gluttony that his pearl was stolen.  How can you not love a spirit who is his own worst enemy?  They are the best part of this story.

I wish the author had taken her story and placed it in modern Japan.  I would have loved to see how Katsura dealt with today’s Japan.  Instead she set it in Shogun era Japan and all the problems with this novel tumble forth.

First the dialog and the phrasing.  Cornelia Grey tries for dialog as it might have been spoken in feudal Japan, using the titles of  “samurai dono” when the innkeeper is speaking to Hajime.  This is an old form of “sir” not used today.  But then phrases such as “he was in his early twenties”, “I could have timed that better”, or Katsura saying being a fox spirit “has got to have it’s perks” brings the story to a jarring halt and dispels any idea that these are men/beings of antiquity.  Further references to Katsura’s “alien gold eyes”, “stroke of genius”, “where on Earth” and “throw his life away” left me reading in disbelief.

The author also tells us repeatedly that Katsura is wearing an orange yukata but never informs the reader that it is a summer kimono.  Most people are aware of what a kimono looks like and had she used that term instead, it would have clarified what he was wearing. Yet, later on, Cornelia Grey tells us that the healer is wearing “his tokin—a small black hat tied just above his forehead”.  Better editing leads to better continuity.

The Samurai era started about 646 ce and ends in 1868 with the Meiji Restoration.  Japan was an isolationist society with layer upon layer of rules and rituals that governed society and its castes.  Such phrases and words such as timing, aliens and perks are modern and mostly Western in origin let alone “where on Earth”.  Also samurai followed a code of conduct called “bushido” which  translates to the way of the warrior.  It is honor, courage, and freedom from the fear of death.  Yet, Hajime says he was “trying to be honorable and kind, as the bushido instructed”and that he “didn’t want to throw his life away”.   *Shakes head*  Well, no, bushido doesn’t instruct that, in fact, bushido even demanded that sepukko or ritual death be committed in certain situations.  So actually, yes, do throw that life away, bushido demands it.

I got the impression that much of this story has been drawn from Manga and not history.  Hajime is actually a boxing manga and anime series. Also the kitsune has some attributes  that come from yuri/yaoi manga fandoms and not Japanese folk tales.  The fox spirit is Japan’s answer to our own Coyote trickster.  It can change shape, possess people in some instances and loves to play tricks, especially on the arrogant and unworthy. Here the land is drained of its energy by the fox spirit and the kitsune drinks Hajime’s blood. The vampiric nature of Katsura seems to have its basis in Shouji Ai or lesbian manga as the Japanese folktales do not mention this.

Writing historical fiction, even one that has fantasy overtones, can be tricky, as mistakes with dialog, dates and culture are easily pinpointed and distract from the story.  Cornelia Grey had a wonderful novel here and she buried it under poor word choices, unintentionally funny dialog, and uneven editing.  And that is such a shame.  Hajime and Katsura deserve much better.

Cover.  The cover is lush and portrays a scene in the book beautifully.  I wish the book was as well done.

Review of Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander

Rating: 5 Stars

At 26, Austin Glass appears to have it all. He’s a trust fund baby with a loving fiance. He drives fancy cars, wears tailored suits and is a decorated cop with his eye on advancement to the FBI.   His future is bright, shiny and planned out, including his rapidly approaching wedding.  Or is it.  Appearances are often deceiving, so the saying goes. And Austin’s glossy exterior hides a painful past,  bitterness and a self imposed isolation from all around him.

In a heartbeat, everything in Austin’s life changes the minute he spies a young man clearing tables in a dinner.  He’s supposed to be waiting for an informant but all he can concentrate on are the freckles sprinkled across the young man’s nose, red hair, and the tattered bunny slippers adorning his feet.

Peter “Rabbit” Dyachenko, wearer of said bunny slippers, is far older than his twenty years.  His life has been incredibly tough and traumatic.  Peter has done what he had to in order to survive, and its left its footprint on his back.  He’s no one’s fool and everyone is his target.  A case of murder and illegal aliens brings the two men together in a clash that forever changes each others lives.

Where do I start? Well, this story is just jaw droppingly good.  No,  it’s better than that.  It’s amazing. Its a stunning debut novel from Dani Alexander that blows you away from the very first sentence that introduces you to the world of Austin Glass.  Austin Glass is such a vivid, unique creation that he is on my list of all-time favorites characters.  The story is told from his POV, with dialog so amazingly genuine and realistic that I alternated laughing out loud with wanting to hit him on the head with a nerf bat depending upon his predicament, much like everyone who comes in contact with him.  Austin is sarcastic, whining, bitter, funny and good at interrogating criminals while antagonizing his fellow cops.  And his father, and his friends. His inner running commentary on his life and events is telling, the unhappiness seeping through as well as his recognition that all is not well in the state of Austin Glass.

Peter has him confused and off kilter from the beginning.  And you get it! You get it all, as Austin tries to cope with the demands of his job, his fiance, his perfectly laid out future with his increasingly obsessive need to see, to be with Peter no matter the cost.  And there is no doubt that it is going to cost him everything. There isn’t one false note here, nothing!  As Austin starts to unravel, you are right there with him on his emotional rollercoaster right to the shattering end.  And while it’s Austin’s voice in your head, all the other people circling  around his mental drainhole are just as authentic as he is. His fiance could be a one-dimentional obstacle in the way of love and happiness.  But Angelica is heartbreakingly real, and you feel for her as her future with Austin crumbles around her. I could not put this book down, often reading until 3am.  Then I had to go back over chapters the next day because I was too afraid I had missed something by being so tired.

This story has everything, laughter, angst, great characters, mystery, lots of bad guys, cartels, FBI, and hot m/m sex.  Oh, and did I mention a HEA?  It has that too.  But it’s the journey to get there that stays in my head.  I have been meaning to write this review for 2 days but I knew I was going to have trouble with it.  How was I going to keep from gushing? I don’t like to gush.  OK, I’m gushing.  And I always have a quibble or two…where are my quibbles?  Nada, zip, nothing.  And I can’t even say it’s too short, because it’s not.  It clocks in at around 450 pages on my Kindle.  Sooooooo……what to say, what to say?

How about brilliant, absolutely wonderful.  I always mention the publisher when writing a review so imagine my surprise when I learned it was self published.  Why are the publishers not beating this woman’s door down?  Shattered Glass and Dani Alexander deserve a much larger audience, as large as they can get.  So here is another drum banging out a call to all readers who love a great story.  Here it is!  Come meet Austin Glass and Peter Rabbit.  You won’t forget them and neither will I.

And my thanks go out to Chris over at StumblingOverChaos.  It is due to her that I have my copy of Shattered Glass and a new found obsession.  Way to go, Chris, and a thousand catnip toys to Chaos for this one.

Go to Goodreads for more quotes from Shattered Glass but here is a sample:

Shattered Glass Quotes:

“Do you know what I did to the last guy that called me Tinkerbelle?”

“Slept with him?”

Darryl was silent for a second. “After that.”
― Dani Alexander, Shattered Glass

“You’re rich, spoiled and used to getting your own way.”

“Not true. If I had my own way you would have kissed me and ridden me like a cowboy while screaming ‘yeehaw’.”
― Dani Alexander, Shattered Glass

Cover:  Dark and simple.  It’s good, fits in with the story but that is not Austin Glass, the suit is too ill fitting.  He wouldn’t be caught dead in a suit like that.  Available at Amazon, Smashwords, and Goodreads.