From Riptide Publishing: “Josh knew the night shift at the Quik-Mart would be full of freaks and geeks—and that was before the hell portal opened in the parking lot. Still, he likes to think he can roll with things. Sure, the zombies make a mess sometimes, but at least they never reach for anything more threatening than frozen burritos.

Besides, it’s not all lizard-monsters and the walking dead. There’s also the mysterious hottie with the sly red lips and a taste for sweets.

Josh has had the hots for Hot Guy since the moment he laid eyes on him, and it seems Hot Guy might be sweet on Josh too. Now if only Josh could figure out whether that’s a good thing, a bad thing, or something in between. After all, with a hell vortex just a stone’s throw away, Josh has learned to take nothing at face value—even if it’s a very, very pretty face.”

And the Sequel also from Riptide Publishing:

“As night-shift clerk at the go-to Quik-Mart for monsters with the munchies, Josh Caplan believes he’s seen it all. Battling lizard men, werewolves chasing cars in the parking lot . . . nothing fazes Josh anymore.

Or so he thinks, at least, until a yeti with poor communication skills drops a dead skunk on the checkout counter. Josh can’t figure what a living, breathing shag carpet wants with him, or why it won’t leave him alone no matter how hard he ignores it. But hey, at least it seems harmless . . . if perhaps a little slow on the draw.

But Sasquatch is plenty fast when two of Josh’s human customers try to out-monster the monsters. Times are strange when creatures from the hell portal save the day, but in the protective hands of a lovesick yeti and a sexy vampire boyfriend, Josh realizes that maybe his new normal isn’t so bad after all.”

I breezed through both books, one right after the other, reading in absolute joy.  They are both very short but don’t stint on the laughs and marvelous descriptions.  What  can you say about a young man, working as a clerk at a Quik Mart, who takes each event and monster with aplomb.  Josh keeps a broom with a silver handle to shoo the werewolves who keep chasing the cars in the parking lot and a open mind when discussing the weather with lizard people in search of snacks.  And keep the lookout for the reason Josh thinks the zombies are so fond of the frozen burritos….ugh.

The  trouble I find when breezing through a series?  At the end, if it has been very, very, good, you immediately want the next one.  And now I immediately want the next one.

From Dreamspinner Press: “Blame it on jet lag. Jason Greene thought he had everything: a dream job as a partner in a large Philadelphia law firm, a beautiful fiancée, and more money than he could ever hope to spend. Then he finds his future wife in bed with another man, and he’s forced to rethink his life and his choices. On a moment’s notice, he runs away to Paris, hoping to make peace with his life.

But Jason’s leave of absence becomes a true journey of the heart when he meets Jules, a struggling jazz violinist with his own cross to bear. In the City of Love, it doesn’t take them long to fall into bed, but as they’re both about to learn, they can’t run from the past. Sooner or later, they’ll have to face the music.”

My Review:

I loved Blue Notes, from the characters involved, through the streets of Paris where they lived and loved, and finally in the music they listened to and created. It took me a bit longer to read this story as I kept stopping to search for a particular selection of music to listen to as I read (Bach Sonata 2 in A Minor was the first) which gave me a deeper appreciation for the scene I was reading. As I listened I was in tune with the emotions of the characters as the music engaged them. Shira Anthony matched music to the men and the story. What beautiful harmony she created.

Jason is a man in flux. His life is upset upon learning of his fiance’s cheating. Unhappy with both his romantic life as well as his dull but successful career, Jason returns to Paris in winter for a vacation and to reflect upon his life. I love Paris and here the author writes about Paris with knowledge and love evident in every sentence. Jason meets a young musician on his very first night in the city who seduces him with his music and flirty demeanor.

Jules upsets Jason in so many ways. He is young, vibrant, with the air of the “streets” and gay. Jason has always acted and behaved straight while inwardly acknowledging his attraction to men. Both share a love of jazz and classical music. From that shared love, they slowly build a relationship that pulls in the reader from the very beginning. All of the characters are wonderfully fleshed out, including the secondary and satellite people around them. Jason’s sister, Rosie, is especially charming and winning.

Shira Anthony does provide a Blue Notes soundtrack on her site shiraanthonydotcom but I was disappointed to find only 3 selections listed (I know, what whining to be sure). I would have loved to have had a list in hand for all the music she used to listen to instead of stopping to look for soundbites. Josh Lanyon is great at this and has spoiled me. But that is really such a minor complaint when she delivered such a wonderful book and music along with it.

So bravo. Loved it. Encore, encore!

Just as I was mourning the last of the Warder books, here is a warm and lovely Christmas story about Malic and Dylan. I will admit to a certain affection for this couple. Malic was a older hearth; a loner of few words and fewer friends until he found his Hearth in the person of Dylan Shaw. Dylan is young, adorable, loyal and totally in love with his Warder. Now its their first Christmas together as a couple and Dylan has brought Malic home to meet the family.

The opening chapter with its “Christmas with the Kranks” description of the Shaw house will have you snickering. This is deceiving as the Shaw’s Christmas cheer does not extend to Malic who they believe is too old for their son. Soon the house is full of holiday discord which Malic takes to heart and hearth, as it were. Soon Malic is beginning to doubt his relationship and Dylan. If you love this couple as I do, this is heartbreaking. Mary Calmes never lets you forget that the Shaws also think they are doing what is best for their son because Malic wants what is best for Dylan too. You will be frustrated and want to grind your teeth along with Malic as he confronts a family aligned against him. And you believe Dylan’s youthfulness as he gets involved with seeing old friends also home for the holidays. It will take a demon, a trap and a forgetfulness spell to spell out the truth to Malic about his Hearth.

Its wonderful, warm, and you get to see some of the other Warders as well which is always a bonus for me. But was this the end of the Warders? Hmmmmm.

While I was alternately cheering the couple on or lining people mentally up for stooge slaps, I also noticed that the author was leaving small hints that the series was not at end after all. Warders powers were ramping up…something was going on. So I posed the question to the author. Mary Calmes came back with a yes (but other sequels have to be finished first). So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the fans of the Warders and their Hearths. It looks like we might be seeing them all again.

From Dreamspinner Press: “Malic Sunden is in hell—only not literally… yet. As a warder, Malic is used to fighting demons and squaring off against all kinds of creatures from the pit, but this year he’s facing a new and terrifying prospect: Christmas holidays with his much-younger boyfriend and his family.

He loves Dylan, his hearth, but Dylan’s parents, the Shaws, are another story. They think Malic is a cradle-robber, among other things. At least their neighbor, Brad, seems to like him. Then again, maybe not. When Malic gets offered to a demon who wipes his memory of everything but Dylan’s name, it will take all Malic has to escape his new life in a hell dimension and return to the man he calls home.”

I give this a almost 4. I really liked this book and Scotty Cade’s writing while at the same time repeatedly hitting my forehead with the desk. I liked it but it gave me a headache.

First off, the beginning of the book had me in tears. Scotty Cade builds up this picture of a loving family. Zander Walsh, his parents and his groom to be are out at the rehearsal dinner before their wedding. The interaction between Zander and his folks plus a tender portrayal of Zander’s relationship with his fiance make the events that follow all that more devastating to the reader and Zander. As the wedding party reaches home, Zander’s parents and fiance are shot and killed. Zander is left for dead. All this is contained in the blurb for the book.

As Zander wakes up in the hospital and reality of his situation sinks in, you feel all his pain and confusion. Really well done. FBI Agent Jake Elliot is waiting in the room for Zander to recover enough to be able to talk about the attack. And here’s the problem for me. While I like Jake Elliot, the main character, I just could not swallow Jake Elliot the FBI Agent. Maybe if he had been made a rookie, but definitely not as a seasoned agent. Too weepy and not very confident in his abilities for someone who had wanted to go into law enforcement his entire life. A really nice guy but the portrayal of the FBI and its agents didn’t seem real.

Problem No 2: Washington, DC, Senate Bills and how it all works (or doesn’t depending upon your point of view). This books pivots upon the idea that introducing a certain bill into the Senate is dangerous because it is a given that the bill will pass. This is folly. I live in the Washington DC metro area where we live and breathe politics. This simply would not happen. A enormous amount of bills are introduced every year, the majority of which die a quick death. Between bipartisan politics, lobbyists and special interests, there are way too many hands in the pot for any bill, especially the one here, to pass both the House and the Senate. Sometimes I can suspend belief for somethings but this kept me just shaking my head and snorting. Unattractive but true.

So even though I liked the story (wonderful secondary characters as well) for every “atta boy well done” there was a “ohmygod he did not just go there”. I see the this book was a prequel for others in the series as it sets up how Zander and Jake met and ended up in Alaska. Since this means they leave the FBI and Washington politics behind (hopefully), I will definitely go on to read the rest of the series. As I said, I really like Zander and Jake. So I am wishing them well and happy in Alaska as I go off to get another book in the series.

Here is the Blurb from the Publisher:

The night before his wedding, Zander Walsh, his parents, and his husband-to-be are all shot when they return home and interrupt a mysterious robbery in progress. After three weeks in a coma, Zander wakes up to find out he is the only survivor, and his perfect life falls apart in an instant.

Hunky FBI Agent Jake Elliot is investigating the case, and he eventually apprehends the killer-who soon escapes. Following six months of searching, Zander and Jake realize they’re being stonewalled by the FBI… and that they have slowly formed an unbreakable bond that is beginning to turn into much more.

Once they embark on a journey to apprehend the killer for the second time, they’ll discover that one terrible night was much more than just an interrupted robbery. Can big business and politics cover up the truth, or will Zander and Jake’s quest to unravel the mystery be the end of their newfound love and their lives?

The relationship between Ryan and Scott was so solid and real that I fell in love with them immediately. Amy Lane also portrayed the stresses that the holidays put on couples in such a funny and realistic manner that I could relate to all the family situations that Scott and Ryan encountered. Ryan’s mother dearest is the reason that there are so many letters to Ask Amy and Carolyn Hax at this time of the year. Awful and so based upon dragon mothers out there (you know who you are) that I was sending thanks that I only knew people like then but they were not actually part of my family.kl And yet Ryan’s commitment to Scott is deep and sees them through. A wonderful heart warming story for any time of the year, but especially great at Christmas.

I missed the first 2 Ryan and Scott stories and will now have to track them down. I loved this story and actually don’t feel that I missed anything by not reading the first two. So I am hoping that the first 2 just fill in some blanks. I also loved their poodle monster, Blitzkrieg. So true love, snow, dog and Christmas. What’s not to love, especially in the hands of Amy Lane.

Here is the blurb from Dreamspinner Press:

Ryan’s entire life changed the night Scott surprised him in a bathroom at a party. Now Ryan’s soulless climb up the corporate ladder has stalled—but his quality life has become a whirlwind of laughter, joy and surprises, thanks to Scotty’s playful, gentle heart.

After three years together, they’re going to Ryan’s parents’ cabin to spend Christmas. Snowed in by the weather and locked under the icy glare of his mother’s disapproval, can Ryan show he has found the most profound happiness in the simplest of things?

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a free read at All Romance over the holidays so I jumped at a chance at a new author (and free book of course). The publisher was also new to me JMS Press that publishes ya fiction among other works.

The story is about Calvin’s return to the small dusty Texas town of his birth to sell his parents home now that they have retired to Florida. Parish Creek is a small town on the way down and out due to poor economic times. Stores are closed or getting ready to go out of business. It seems peopled by the bitter, close-minded and rigid.

Calvin had long escaped to success and a happy life in New York City. And now he was back to close up his parents estate. He is full of bad memories of harassment and bullying as a teen in his school years. He hires Brock (John Brockwell), a jock and a member of the group that bullied him Brock turns out to be closeted and ashamed now of his behavior in school. He is deeply in debt, bitter about his failure as the golden boy and a single dad.

So far so good. All the above seems plausible. Then the train goes off the track. Calvin makes Brock his fix-it project. Not in those words but he decides to take charge and correct what is wrong with Brock’s life. Why he would do that to someone he hated in school is never addressed in a way that makes sense.That’s not my only problem with this book. It’s that Brock lets him with little or no objections. The rest of the book deals with Calvin moving himself into the lives of Brock and his teenage son. Brock’s son demonstrates more maturity than his adult father does. Brock lets the town people take advantage of him constantly and there is not an area where low self esteem hasn’t had an effect on his life. But the book doesn’t address this any more than it delves into the abuse Calvin suffered constantly while in school (where where his parents?) Brock’s glory days were high school sports and he is pushing his son into playing whether he cares to or not. But even that conflict is not addressed here and simply disappears like all the other problems that are presented here. The conflicts of the past and present pop up only to dissipate without any real resolution.

I wish Drew Hunt had really explored some of the themes he brought up in the beginning of the book and left the second half as a sequel. IMO, Brock needed time to grow up emotionally but that never seems to happen. A nice read that could have been so much more. There are so many nice small bits here that you can see the author’s talent. I kept waiting for the other foot to drop so to speak but the story just up and hopped away one legged. So three stars here.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2515670-melaniem54msn-com”>View all my reviews</a>

Here is the blurb from JMS Press: Calvin Hamilton reluctantly returns to his home town of Parrish Creek, Texas, to sell his parents’ house. Finding the place in need of repair he hires John “Brock” Brockwell to renovate the house before putting it on the market. Brock bares a passing resemblance to Gary Cooper, especially as he often wears western clothing. Calvin has always had a weakness for cowboys.

Time has reversed the two men’s fortunes. In high school Brock was the big man on campus, his popularity allowing him to hide his true nature. Calvin was a nerd, bullied by most of the jocks for being perceived as gay. Now Calvin is a successful New York advertising executive, and Brock is a divorced father with a teenage son who faces financial ruin, unable to pay his late father’s hospital bills.

Can Calvin put past bitterness behind him and help the cowboy with whom he is rapidly falling in love? Will the deeply closeted Brock be able to admit he has feelings for Calvin? Or will pride, fear, distance, and the past prevent them from building a future together?

Ahead is a night of A Christmas Carol (1938 version), A Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street with Natalie Wood, White Christmas, Sound Of Music and more.  Preparations are done, the house almost cleaned and the back sore.

The dogs have been brushed, given treats of cheese, and are curled up in or around the bed.  The foxes are quiet and the Christmas lights are on, blinking merrily away awaiting Father Christmas.

Carols are playing and the Christmas tree beautiful and green. So Merry Christmas one and all.  And to all a good night.

Blurb from Resplendence Publishing: “When Liam Bates volunteered to visit lonely patients at his local hospital, he expected them to be able to talk back when he chatted to them. But, when he’s assigned to visit a comatose man, he soon finds himself spilling out his whole life story in an effort to fill the silence. It’s not long before the peace and comfort he finds in the man’s hospital room becomes Liam’s refuge from an increasingly hostile world.

Vampire Marcus Corrigan has been trapped inside his paralysed body for over three years, unable to communicate with anyone. The chatty young man who visits Marcus quickly captivates him, and Liam’s softly spoken words soon have him determined to rescue the boy from his current life, but, unable to move a muscle, all Marcus can actually do is lay there and listen.

There’s only one thing that can wake up Marcus. There’s only one thing that can save Liam’s sanity. Everything is about to change for them both, and it will change with a kiss.”

Please note: This story centres around a relationship that incorporates elements of BDSM. It also includes references to an entirely separate relationship which contains violent and abusive behaviour, perpetrated by a secondary character.

My Review:  I gave it 4 out of 5 stars

This was the first book I have bought by Kim Dare and I did it on the recommendations of friends of mine. I thought this was a interesting take on the Cinderella story in the it starts with the ramifications of the kiss – a vampire wakes up.

The story also deals with physical abuse, and its effects on its victims both physical and psychological. As others have said, the abuse mostly takes place out of sight, so only the after affects are shown. She leaves most of what occurred to the reader’s imagination, which is what I prefer. The characters of Marcus, the vampire and Liam, the human abuse victim, are well done and multi-layered. I wish I had gotten more of the history of vampires in society in her universe. The tidbits like vampire babies being raised by a human couple as the norm, vampire rules for feeding etc, were tantalizing and left me with a mere idea of the social norms of her universe. If you are going to build a universe, I would like to know more about it.

I was not aware until I read her bio that she has written more than 50 books containing BDSM in them no matter the universe. But the D/s here is mild and the leather play mild as well. So I feel that this should not be a barrier to buying this book (it wasn’t for me; I do not normally purchase books with this content, just not my thing).

A very well done book and I did enjoy it. I wish I had gotten a little more feel of the future for them, but the ending was still very satisfactory.