Tag: A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Wedding Favors (A Bluewater Bay story, #7) by Anne Tenino

  • BWBlogo_WebRating: 5 stars out of 5

WeddingFavors_1200x1800HR-1Twelve years ago, Gabe Savage let his best friend’s brother get away. In fact, he encouraged him to leave Bluewater Bay by breaking off with him before they even got started, because he knew the artist within Lucas Wilder would never have a chance to fully develop if he stayed in this small backwoods town. Now, Gabe wants him back, and unknown to Lucas, this Gabe has all the patience in the world. All he has to do is treat Lucas like a skittish colt and wait for him to see that they belong together.

In the meantime, Lucas comes back to Bluewater Bay only because his best friend, Audrey, is marrying his brother—a fact he is shocked to learn. He’s to be her Man of Honor, and once the shock wears off, he packs up and heads north. Then he learns that Gabe Savage, that sexy redhead with the body of a real man, is going to be the Best Man, and he wants to run back to California.

Lucas has recently broken up with his partner, and since they not only owned a home together, but Lucas sold most of his artwork in his partner’s gallery, Lucas feels alone and adrift, unable to decide where to relocate so that he can pursue his art. Bluewater Bay is the last place he’d want to settle, but Audrey actually does him a favor by dragging him home. It’s not until she coerces Lucas into sculpting favors for her wedding, and she suggests that he can set up a studio at Gabe’s tree farm, that Lucas starts to suspect that there may be a master plan in place.

Gabe had never really believed that Lucas would return to town, but now that he has, he’s willing to go along with Audrey and her fiancé Zach and provide the space for Lucas. There’s certainly a better chance that he’ll have the opportunity to explain that he never meant to break Lucas’s heart all those years ago; at least, he hopes he can get the chance. He does get that chance, and eventually more, and the two pick up where they left off and go much further than either expected. Both men have matured, and Gabe is the macho, big, sweaty male that Lucas finds extremely hot and dominating in their relationship. Lucas is the kinky, sexy, subservient guy of Gabe’s dreams. But neither has learned to truly communicate their feelings, and they seem headed to disaster as the wedding approaches, and Lucas prepares to leave.

This one is my favorite in the Bluewater Bay series, so far. It amazes me that so many wonderful authors have come together to create this series in which each book is distinctive, yet fits in the series, often has overlapping characters, yet brings its own unique and interesting story to light. Anne Tenino has done an outstanding job with this one. There’s some angst and heartache for both men as they work through their past and show fear for their future. But there’s also humor, amazing secondary characters (Lucas’s father and his pot-growing operation for one), and there’s hope, romance and an emotional journey that brings them to deep and abiding love.

A super story! This can easily be read as a standalone as there’s little overlap with characters from other books. It’s for all those who enjoy reading about reunited lovers, hairy, sexy outdoorsmen, artists who see the beauty all around them, and just simply for all lovers of M/M romance. Don’t hesitate to pick this up.
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Cover design by LC Chase depicts two handsome young men—one dressed casually, one as a rugged outdoorsman—superimposed on a background of a barn and rural scenery. This photo matches both the MC’s and the story content perfectly.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing –  All Romance (ARe) – Amazon   Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 325 pages
Published April 13th 2015 by Riptide Publishing (first published April 11th 2015)
original titleWedding Favors
ISBN139781626492929
edition languageEnglish
seriesBluewater Bay #7
charactersLucas Wilder, Gabriel Savage

Bluewater Bay Universe….WolfsLanding_transparent

Welcome to Bluewater Bay! This quiet little logging town on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula has been stagnating for decades, on the verge of ghost town status. Until a television crew moves in to film Wolf’s Landing, a soon-to-be cult hit based on the wildly successful shifter novels penned by local author Hunter Easton.

Wolf’s Landing’s success spawns everything from merchandise to movie talks, and Bluewater Bay explodes into a mecca for fans and tourists alike. The locals still aren’t quite sure what to make of all this—the town is rejuvenated, but at what cost? And the Hollywood-based production crew is out of their element in this small, mossy seaside locale. Needless to say, sparks fly.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by eleven award-winning, best-selling LGBTQ romance authors: L.A. Witt, L.B. Gregg, Z.A. Maxfield, Aleksandr Voinov, Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz, Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, SE Jakes, G.B. Gordon, and Jaime Samms. Each contemporary novel stands alone, but all are built around the town and the people of Bluewater Bay and the Wolf’s Landing media empire.

Books in this Universe include with links to our reviews:

 

 

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review — Foolish Encounters: A Rainbow Gold Anthology by Angel Martinez, Tinnean, Tali Spencer, Amy Lane, J.C. Wallace, Elin Gregory, and Freddy MacKay

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Foolish Encounters coverThis is a collection of stories in which one or both of the MCs have something happen which disrupts their routine before they have that first chance encounter. As the blurb states, “An accident, a chance encounter, a thought blurted out, a boat blown off course, a change in direction that suddenly runs into the line of fire – the smallest misstep can change everything. These foolish encounters are the moments around which lives pivot and sometimes spin out of control.”

A Message from the Home Office by Angel Martinez
Sissal, a cobra shifter, is sent an assistant to his outpost on planet Earth. The young guy named Rcrred, and nicknamed Richard, is cute, blond, very high strung, and uses his eidetic memory to spout regulations at Sissal every chance he gets. Richard is a dik-dik shifter and is the last thing Sissal wanted in his life. But Sissal adapts to the situation until he discovers that Richard has hacked into his computer and is apparently trying to find something on him to report back to headquarters. Actually, he’s reporting back to a specific officer who has had it in for Sissal for years. This is a very nice story with great world-building, interesting characters, and a plausible, complex storyline. Great for those who like sci-fi/futuristic adventures. 4 stars

Shredding the Heart by JC Wallace
Nicholas is a skateboarder who is hoping to win a national title, and in the meantime is working, going to college part time, and practicing on his skateboard every chance he gets. He’s not only obsessed with skateboarding, though. He’s obsessed with the guy he sees out running every morning, and in an attempt to get closer one morning, he accidently overcompensates on his board, sending it slamming into the man’s head. Quinn is a workaholic, driven to achieve in his high pressure finance job, and hadn’t noticed the gorgeous skateboarder until they both ended up in the hospital together. Eventually, Quinn gives in to Nicholas’s attempts to befriend him, and the two find they have a lot in common. But Quinn’s been burned before and doesn’t give his trust lightly. When he perceives that Nicholas has used him to get sponsorship to attend his next skateboarding event, he cruelly breaks Nicholas’s heart and storms off in a huff.

This is the longest of the stories and was very well done. The author took the time to build a relationship with the men and gave them plenty of time to work out their own issues and for Quinn to realize his own stupidity. Shredding is defined as performing an athletic sport well, and it’s not until Quinn learns how to master his heart that the two can finally find their HEA. Great for those who love a little angst and self-flagellation mixed with their romance. 5 stars

The Lunar Imperative by Elin Gregory
Futuristic sci-fi about Haken, a Vargan sergeant who leads a covert mission to another planet to exterminate the man who escaped their planet with their treasury. One of his soldiers, Raimi, is attracted to Haken but is not of the same rank so Haken hesitates to pursue anything. The Vargans are huge, and shift-shape to beasts during the full moon, often losing their humanity during that time and feasting on each other. However, at this full moon, both Raimi and Haken have been captured. The heart of the story revolves around whether or not they will kill each other, exterminate their captor, or be killed. This is an interesting tale with a lot of world-building for such a short story. If you like non-human species and sci-fi space adventures, you will likely enjoy this one. 3 stars

Blue and Green Persuasion by Tinnean
Stranded aboard The Midnight Ride, a starship which has been floating without power through the galaxies for centuries, Hart accepts that his fate may be to die aboard the ship that was to have transported them to a new world before it lost power. But as they enter a new galaxy, his father, the captain, asks him to power up his pod—a small spaceship that he uses for scouting. As Chief Scout, he will not only drop into a possibly hostile atmosphere, but he may never return to the ship since there’s not enough power to get back. But the reports look good. The planet seems to have both water and land mass, and when he lands he finds an oxygen-rich atmosphere, small animals to use as food, and beautiful, bird-like sentient beings. Kes is such a being and right from the start, they are attracted to each other. But Hart has to direct his father and the other survivors onboard The Midnight Ride as they use shuttle tenders to land in this new world so the men are separated until Hart completes his mission. This was a great story with amazing world-building within so few words. The primary romance, and another between Hart’s brother and one of the soldiers were sweetly done, and we see enough of the promise of a future together to make it a satisfying romance story. 5 stars

Well Hello, Eight Eyes by Tali Spencer
Tanner is out on Lake Michigan when a horrible storm blows up, and he can’t make it back to shore. Shooting for an island, his boat capsizes, and he ends up on Spider Island where the residents don’t seem very happy about saving his life. He’s assigned to Cory as his housemate and “sitter”, and told to stay in the cabin no matter what happens while Cory is gone during the day. He steps onto the porch and is greeted with a scary sight—huge, furry, eight-legged creatures resembling spiders seem to be playing with each other in a nearby field. Needless to say, he gets indoors and doesn’t plan to go out at all the next day. That night, he and Cory get closer and more romantically involved, and he’s starting to wonder if he even wants to leave the island the next day when the supply boat is due to arrive. But before he has to make the choice, he gets a greater shock when he spots a spider indoors with him. What happens next changes the course of his future, and he finds a chance to be happy with Cory in a warm and fuzzy way (pun intended!). 3.5 stars

The Fenestra Penetration by Amy Lane
A fenestra is an opening or a window. Steve is a UPS driver who enjoys imagining what goes on behind the windows he views as he makes his deliveries every day. Usually he can see something inside each window that fires his imagination, but one house on his route has all the shades pulled, and when he sees where the package he’s about to deliver is from, he’s hoping that the guy who lives there is as hot as his imagination makes him out to be. That particular company only produces certain items—the kind of items Steve himself prefers, and when he gets a look at the cute guy who receives the box, he wants more. Eventually, he not only gets it he gets much more than his imagination could have possibly hoped for. A really cute, sweet, hot, well done story packed with humor and romance. 5 stars

The Nut Job by Freddy Mackay
This one is somewhat of an offshoot of “A Message from the Home Office” by Angel Martinez. Spencer is the pilot who dropped off Rcrred and got out of there quickly before Sissal could make him return for the irritating little rik-rik. Spence is a squirrel, or a squirrel-like being, who is on a mission to gather nuts, not only for the people on his planet, but there’s also a little side trip to set himself up with his own private stash. When his assistants, some of whom are large and furry, are spotted and shot at by a human, Spence has to abort his mission, drop his nuts, and try to get his friends to safety. It’s during this escape that he meets Raijin, a human male who is stoned on pot and ’shrooms and doesn’t really believe his own eyes. Over time, and a great deal of bickering, he and Spence start to form an attraction, and when Raijin is injured by that same gun-toting human, Spence does whatever he can to keep him safe, including making Raijin his pet. This is a nutty story (pun intended) in which the author shows a definite sense of humor with the nut jokes. A great way to end the anthology, and though not strictly a romance, there’s hope for one as the story closes. 4 stars

Overall, this is a nice anthology, definitely just perfect for those who enjoy sci-fi since many of the stories were space adventures. I enjoyed some stories more than others, and I’m sure other readers will have their own choices, but overall I enjoyed this very much.

Cover art by Wilde City Press.  Cute cover that works for the anthology.

Sales Links:     Wilde City Press        All Romance (ARe)      Amazon       Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, First, 353 pages
Published April 1st 2015 by Wilde City Press, LLC (first published March 31st 2015)
original titleFoolish Encounters: A Rainbow Gold Anthology
ISBN 1925313069 (ISBN13: 9781925313062)
edition languageEnglish

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Max and the Prince (Bodyguards Inc. #3) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Max and the PrinceWhen bodyguard Max Connery is called to headquarters to meet his new assignment, Prince Lucien, he doesn’t expect to encounter the shy, sweet, young man who wants nothing more than to finish his university studies and to continue to participate on the swim team.

Max looks younger than his twenty-eight years and, in fact, is often mistaken for being under twenty-one. He’s five foot nine, blond, muscular, and a former RAF pilot who retired after his plane crashed and the ejection mechanism failed to get him out before being injured. He’s overcome his disability but not interested in going back.

Lucien is twenty-five, having delayed starting university due to problems in his homeland and his own personal issues surrounding the death of his younger brother, which he took hard and was slow to recover from. He’s received threatening letters from a stalker, both in his homeland and now again in Wales where he attends school, but he refuses to leave, because attaining his degree and competing with the swim team are very important to him. Besides, the letters aren’t really outright threats to him, or requests for money; they are more like missives with hidden meanings and he won’t give in to his stalker. They decide that Max can pretend to be his boyfriend, rent one of the rooms in Luke’s apartment, and hang out with the swim team, even if it means swimming with them.

Most of the story is the development of the romance between Max and Luke who are not able to stay away from each other. Max is experienced but has never been in love. Luke is a virgin but has had one minor experience in the past. They are attracted to each other right from the start, though it takes a while for Max to overcome his reticence to get involved with a client.

There’s quite a bit of speculation about the source of the letters Luke receives since they don’t explicitly state anything threatening, and there’s a lot of discussion between Max and people at the BI office, but it takes a while for the clues to start to make sense. I would have liked to know more about Max’s employer, Kyle, and his assistant, Ross. There’s an implied backstory there, but not having read the first books, it’s hard to determine what it is. The blurbs for the first books don’t mention the formation of BI or Kyle’s and Ross’s names so, although this book can be read as a standalone, readers who have a chance to read this series in sequence should do so.

The story also has a subplot about Luke’s roommate who was addicted to pain medication and a few scenes involving a drug dealer who was eventually murdered in their house by Luke’s stalker. One subplot that seemed to be out of the realm of believable is the fact that Max showed up at the swim team training with Luke and was not only accepted there with him but included in the practices and eventually as a backup for competitive meets. I just couldn’t buy that one—not on a university team.

The conclusion was anti-climactic and overall the story seemed very unlike the R.J. Scott books I’ve read in the past. This one was too simple, light, fluffy—I’m not even sure I can find the right word. I’d recommend this to those who like a very light, fairly short, hot M/M romance with a twist of mystery and intrigue.

Cover design by Meredith Russell is a photo of a handsome, dark-haired young man. Since Max is blond, one can assume it is a photo of Prince Lucien, bare-chested and likely ready for a swim meet.

Sales Links:  Love Lane Books    All Romance (ARe)       Amazon   Buy It Here

Book Details:

139 pages
Published March 27th 2015 by Love Lane Books Limited (first published March 25th 2015)

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review – Room 1024 by Racheline Maltese & Erin McRae

Rating: 1 star out of 5

Room 1024 covrWhen Cameron takes his submissive boyfriend Noah to a gay men’s leather convention in San Francisco, Cam expects to spend the week exploring their relationship and experimenting with non-monogamy. What he doesn’t expect is to run into his own former dom, Lou, in an embarrassingly public reunion.

While Noah is enthusiastic about the opportunity to play with the former international leather title-holder, Cam is more wary. He and Lou have unfinished business. A four-way encounter with Lou and his sub Stephen could be great fun—or it could show Noah that Cameron can never quite be the dom he wants and needs.

As Cameron and Noah work through the uncertainties in their relationship, Noah is offered everything he ever wanted, in a completely different way than he ever expected, leading all four men to discover that sometimes the only way forward is to revisit the past.

I failed to read the official blurb before reading the book because I didn’t want to be influenced, I just wanted to experience the story. For reasons, I’ll state later, it’s important to include the blurb above.

I included it now, because I did not get all the points listed above from reading the story and, in fact, it wasn’t until I went back and read the blurb that the story made some sense to me. Conclusion? The author did not convey the message she had planned to deliver. My review follows:

Noah convinces his boyfriend, and supposed Dom, Cameron, to take him to a leather convention in San Francisco. While picking up their registration forms and heading back to their room, Cam hears his name called by the speaker at a pre-conference workshop. He’s immediately embraced by big and burly Lou, the Dom doing the workshop. He’s then introduced to the attendees by his full name and profession—Dr. Cameron Beck, professor of queer studies at Boston University. (Is there such a major?) Lou then declares that Cameron used to be his boy and gives him a big smack on the cheek.

When he finally gets back to his room, he tells Noah about seeing Lou and informs him that they are invited to dinner with him. Noah’s enthusiastic response includes the statement that Lou is someone that they can try their “non-monogamy thing” with. When Cam questions him about doing it with Lou, Noah tells him that someone has to take the initiative.

So at this point in the story, I already found myself questioning the protocols at a conference where a former “leather title holder” would grab his former boy and introduce him by his full professional title without permission. And the “non-monogamy thing” Noah mentions is never explained the way it is in the blurb. It’s just stated and we’re never given background about the decision, nor is it really addressed later in the story.

As the story unfolds, it appears that Cam and Lou separated prematurely, and now Cam is longing to get back together with Lou, and Lou, though happy with his new sub, Stephen, doesn’t close out the possibilities for the future with Cam. I would have thought that if Cam is now a Dom, Lou may have been his trainer, but Cam just acts submissive and training is not addressed, so I wonder how Cam ended up being a Dom if his behavior is submissive.

To be honest, I was confused throughout the story in several different settings since Cam is supposedly Noah’s Dom but continually looks to Lou and even outright submits to Lou, going so far as to have alone time in which they have sex, and he submits again. Noah isn’t collared throughout most of the story and does seem to continually ask for more than Cam is willing to provide, even though he has thoughts about how proud he is of Cam and how he hopes that Cam will demonstrate his dominance in a scene. Noah and Cam do end up in Lou’s room (1024), however it’s more of a Noah and Stephen sex scene, with Cam and Lou coaching them than it is all four men together.

By the end of the book, which takes place over the course of the week-long conference, I still felt that the story was disjointed and choppy. I also found use of the present tense in the writing style annoying and confusing. The fact that twenty-four hours later, after reading several of the chapters twice, I’m still confused and having difficulty writing out the review leads me to the conclusion that I need to give the story no more than one star.

Cover by BSClay is a photo depicting a hand gripping a sheet and is symbolic of the BDSM content of the story.

Sales Links:  Torquere Books       All Romance (ARe)   Amazon   Buy It here

Book Details:

Expected publication: April 8th 2015 by Torquere Press
ISBN139781610409001
edition languageEnglish

settingSan Francisco, California (United States)

 

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Light from the Dark by Mercy Celeste

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Light from the Dark coverI really like Mercy’s Celeste’s work so it’s not unusual for me to expect a good story from her, but this one is the best I’ve ever read! My first thoughts upon completion: awesome, complex, convoluted plot, extremely damaged yet loveable MCs, an intriguing mystery, amazing sex, and a story that will remain with me for quite a while.

The blurb doesn’t do justice to the full scope of this story, but in a nutshell—former US Marshal Micah Beasley, tired of living with the guilt and negative thoughts of the disaster his last job took, decides to accept a job offer as bodyguard for what he assumes is a spoiled rich kid who can’t (or won’t) leave his house. Thinking it will be a cakewalk, when asked what salary he’d like, he asks for a million dollars. Imagine his shock when he gets it!

Christopher (Kit) Auberon is all that’s left of the very wealthy and powerful Auberon family. Unable to speak, scarred from spending two years in prison for the attempted murder of his uncle, white-haired from that same imprisonment, he’s also a brilliant computer gamer. Loner doesn’t begin to describe his isolated existence, however.

Unfortunately, recent break-ins at his supposedly secure estate, coupled by escalating memories of a time when he was kidnapped as a child after seeing his parents killed, are sending Kit into a place in his mind from which he may never return.

The scope of the story is so huge that I need to break it down a bit to do justice to a review. Starting with the MCs—first, Micah Beasley, blond, muscular, with a scar that slices his face on one side, former US Marine, former US Marshal, not out to his family, burdened by guilt connected to his last case when his work partner, Heath, was killed along with the child they were protecting. Heath was also his lover, and Micah feels that if they hadn’t taken fifteen minutes for a quickie before picking up the little girl, she wouldn’t have been killed, Heath wouldn’t have died, and Micah might have some semblance of a career left. Instead, his affair with his married co-worker comes out in the investigation, and Micah is relieved of duty, retired quietly, and sent on his way. Stewing over all of this for over six months, he’s shocked when his name is suggested for the bodyguard position but realizes it might be just what he needs to join the living again.

Kit Auberon was only eight years old when he was kidnapped from the scene where both his parents were murdered and their home burned to the ground. When he later wanders into a convenience store, covered in blood, he’s unable to speak and has no memory of what happened or where he’s been. And if that isn’t bad enough, we learn that he has psychotic episodes in which he shuts down completely after exhibiting violent behavior. During one of these when he was only a young teen, he attacked his uncle with scissors and nearly killed him. His uncle refused to back off and Kit was sent to a horrible mental institution for two years during which he was physically and mentally abused. When he was finally released to the custody of his grandfather’s chosen guardians, his hair had turned completely white, he had scars all over his body, and he faced a long road back to recovery. The experiences this young man went through in the past and goes through in the present in this story, are heartbreaking and tragic. This reviewer came to love him, his strength of character, his will to continue to fight his demons, his brilliance in putting his intellect to work by creating computer games and tweaking artificial voice controls in order for him to communicate with those around him. He alternates between sign language and the computerized voice, and I found myself wishing I could be there to help him in some way.

Over the course of the first week that Micah is with Kit, Micah discovers that Kit is highly intelligent, sweet and innocent in regards to relationships, definitely a virgin, impotent, and someone with whom Micah could easily fall in love. In fact, he’s one of the only people Kit trusts in his inner circle, outside of the few household staff who have been with him most of his life, and Kit begins to have feelings for Micah as well. Kit’s nickname for Micah is Beastly, not because of the scar which slashes across his face, but because of his lion-hearted strength and his rough blond good looks and hairy body. The two develop a rapport that runs much deeper than either expected, and it’s Micah who is finally able to help Kit fight his darkness and find his way back to stability when their safe environment goes to hell in a handbasket.

The mystery surrounding the childhood kidnapping is eventually revealed in all its complex twists and turns, as is the time Kit spent in the psychiatric facility, and the details of Micah’s own past with the complex situation which led to his dismissal from the department. I swear I was going to get out my spreadsheet and plot a few graphs to help me get through the cast of characters and their relationships to each other, to Kit, and to the mystery itself. At the heart of the last few chapters of the story is the deep and abiding love that Micah has developed for “Chris”, and the mutual understanding and reliance upon each other as they battle their demons and ghosts, both past and present.

I can’t begin to express how very much I enjoyed this story. It’s much more than a simple M/M romance. It’s a journey of two men’s struggles to come out of the depths of despair and fight for stability and happiness in a situation which seems virtually hopeless. I highly recommend this one to lovers of M/M romance, mystery and intrigue, and those who want to have an opportunity to stretch their imaginations to new lengths. Don’t miss this one!

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Cover Art by Reece Notley is a photo of a gruff-looking man in a suit as he holds the jacket closed, showing tension in every line of his body. This is a good representation of MC Micah Beasley and the tension under which he has been living.

Sales Links:       Amazon      Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 246 pages
Published March 6th 2015 by MJC PRess (first published March 5th 2015)
original titleLight from the Dark
edition languageEnglish
url https://mercyceleste.wordpress.com/