Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Winter’s Wolf (Tales of the Harker Pack #3) by Tara Lain

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Winter Thane and his father Damon come down from northern Canada ostensibly so that Winter can learn about pack life. His dad has been a loner for over 25 years and even though he got custody of Winter when he was born 20 years ago, he remained a lone wolf. Winter quickly finds out that there’s more to the story than he originally thought. Apparently his father broke one of the cardinal rules of werewolves—no sex with humans—and fled the area after one night with the love of his life, a human.

Another thing Winter quickly learns is that he is not the only gay werewolf and though his father has constantly berated him about his sexual desires, when they rejoin the Marketo pack, they find out about Cole Harker and Lindsey Vanessen, both gay werewolves, both now married and accepted into the pack. One is married to a werepanther and one to a human. So Winter’s father is shocked, and Winter is thrilled by the new information.

Winter also learns that he most definitely is attracted to a male—and a human one, at that. Matt Partridge is the FBI agent investigating a drug ring that seems to be centered in the area of the Harker and Marketo packs and when Winter spots him talking to Cole Harker and the local sheriff, between his scent and his looks, Winter can barely walk as he moves away from him. Later that night, behind the bar, he finds out just how much Matt is also attracted to him.

Winter becomes involved in the investigation into the drug ring when he accidentally uncovers some of what is going on. Sharing those secrets with Matt and convincing him to allow Winter to help makes a good reason for the two to keep meeting, but the course of true love (or lust) never runs smoothly and between the investigation, Winter’s involvement with some of the younger pack members in what’s turning out to be a coup attempt in the Marketo pack, Damon’s meeting with the woman who fathered his other son, <spoiler> who turns out to be Lindsey Vanessen</spoiler> and a complication in Matt’s personal life, the two will be lucky to live—never mind find time to love each other.

Nothing is as it first seems, however, and the complexity eventually boils down to an outright fight for their lives. Will they get their HEA? Of course, Tara Lain doesn’t disappoint, but it’s not easy to get there.

I liked the story overall, as I’ve liked the others in the series. However, there were some minor discrepancies which bugged me in addition to the fairly easy resolution of the problems. I was more strongly attached to Lindsey and Seth in their story (A Wolf in Gucci Loafers) than I was to Winter and Matt in this one, perhaps because of Damon’s side love story with Elizabeth. I think there were a few too many plot lines and love stories all going on at once. But, lovers of Tara Lain stories will like this one, and it is a nice fit to the Pack & the Panther series so shifter lovers should like it as well. Overall, I liked it a bit more than average, but not enough for a 4 star rating.
~~~
Cover Art by Aaron Anderson depicts half of the face of a man superimposed on a background of a wolf howling at a full moon. Although this does represent the story, the MC in the story has “a mane” of hair that’s so pale it’s like silver. The MC on the cover has short, blond hair. I would have liked the cover so much more if it truly represented the MC.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 220 pages, also available in paperback
Published February 27th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781632165442
edition languageEnglish
seriesTales of the Harker Pack

Tales of the Harker Pack Series:

The Pack or the Panther (Tales of the Harker Pack, #1)
Wolf in Gucci Loafers (Tales of the Harker Pack #2)
Winter’s Wolf (Tales of the Harker Pack, #3)

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review – Wood, Screws and Nails by Piper Vaughn and Kade Boehme ~ Audiobook narrated by Paul Morey

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Aaron Costa allows his parents to talk him into spending the summer remodeling their lake home so that they can sell it at a good profit. Since he owns a construction company and can take the time to do this, he happily agrees. When he realizes his usual helper isn’t able to come along, he sees this as an opportunity to bond with his son, Julian Julian asks for his college roommate, Malachi, to accompany them since he knows Malachi has worked in construction in the past and needs to save money toward tuition and books for their senior year.

Malachi feels like his dreams have come true when he gets the job and then meets Aaron. The sexy, older man exceeds all of Malachi’s expectations, and if his gaydar isn’t broken, he expects that he and Aaron have a lot more in common than a love of working with their hands. The two quickly become friendly, and when Julian starts to find excuses to do other things, Malachi and Aaron are forced to spend even more time together.

Despite the age difference, Aaron finally succumbs to his lust for this sexy young man who he’s come to care for, and the two create amazing chemistry together. Paul Morey does an excellent job of narrating the story and vocalizing their interactions. Aaron’s major concerns about the age difference continue to bother him, though, and the fact that he’s never told Julian that he’s gay could be a major problem as well. He’s never even come out to his own parents, so speaking to Julian is very difficult for him, but he figures it’s his own business and what Julian doesn’t know can’t hurt him.

Unfortunately, one day Aaron and Malachi decide to fool around on the job site, and as readers/listeners might expect, Julian walks in on them. What follows is awkward and embarrassing, and in the aftermath, Aaron has to struggle to find a way to communicate with his son and to let Malachi go.

I enjoyed the audiobook version of this story, though there were quite a few scenes that seemed very trite and totally anticipated. In other words, there was nothing outstanding about the story, but it was a sweet romance and should appeal to those M/M romance readers/listeners who enjoy a hot age-gap romance. I’ve rated the story 3 stars with a boost of .5 for the narration.

The cover art by Paul Richmond is a good representation of the story, depicting the naked back of a young, muscular man wearing a hard hat and work gloves and holding an electric drill.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press Amazon

Audio Book Details: Buy It Here

over Artist Paul Richmond
Narrator Paul Morey
Length 4 hours and 30 minutes
Categories AudiobooksPiper VaughnKade BoehmeHard Hats by Piper Vaughn
Book Type Audiobook, Other Formats eBook

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review – Tempest (Playing the Fool #3) by Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Shakespeare buffs should love this series. As in the other two stories, quotes from “The Bard” abound and, in fact, the title of the story is an adaptation of The Tempest.

Henry Page, aka Sebastian Hanes, aka a hundred other aliases, is a Shakespeare buff. He and his twin sister Viola were raised by an alcoholic mother who was an actress and instilled a love of William Shakespeare in her children from a very early age. As this third story in the series opens, Henry is on the run and so is his boyfriend, FBI Agent Ryan “Mac” McGuinness Mac is being framed for murder and with nowhere else to go, they head for Altona, Indiana, where the series began. Altona, not the most well-known city in the world has a population consisting of Mac’s family, some goats, a few chickens, and maybe a handful of other people. Henry’s not happy about lying low at the McGuinness family farm (hence, his singing of Old MacDonald’s Farm on the way there), but they’ve got nowhere else to go, and he believes Viola will be safe there, a fact which makes him most cooperative.

Viola suffered a brain injury while trying to pull one of their mother’s boyfriends off of Henry as he was being raped when they were teens. In this book we learn something more about this man, JJ. <spoiler> The way the authors wove Mac’s and Henry’s stories together was both complex and compelling. Interesting to me as a reviewer and as someone who has read the past books, I felt like I was slowly unwrapping a gift and each layer brought a new surprise. In hindsight, it’s obvious that the authors plotted this series out before starting the first book, yet each story is a complete story in itself. Together, they make an incredibly interesting action adventure saga. As Henry jokes, the two of them together, aka “Mac and Cheese”, had enough going on in their lives to create a TV series about them, and now they seem to have enough material to make an epic motion picture.

Watching their relationship develop, and most especially, watching Henry come to the realization that he can indeed rely on Mac, that he loves him, and that he might have finally found a home with Mac, is incredibly fulfilling and I just literally couldn’t put the story down. If this had been a movie, I certainly would have watched between my fingers, like a little kid who can’t bear to see what’s going on, yet can’t leave the room either. The last chapters were a hair-raising adventure, super scary for more than just Mac and Henry, and highly riveting. A definite nail-biter, for sure.

The authors continue to relate to the world of William Shakespeare throughout the story, and I particularly enjoyed Mac’s realization that “everyone had their assigned part, and played it. All the world was a stage, after all, and it was just bursting at the seams with eager understudies.” He went on to speculate on the people who loved you and those you loved—those are the only people who mattered. It was clearly evident that he loved Henry, and when Henry finally admitted that he loved Mac, though it was mumbled, it was just perfect for them. And speaking of perfect, the ending of the story was exactly what will allow our guys to continue on in future stories if the authors want to take them further, but would be a fine place to end if they decide to do so.

I highly recommend this series. It got better with each book, and both characters are now on my list of favorite M/M characters and definitely on my most memorable couples list.
~~~
Cover Art by L.C. Chase depicts an open black umbrella on a red background, giving the same overall feel as the covers of the other books. In this case, use of an umbrella symbolizes both Henry’s fear of storms and the use of an umbrella to thwart one of the “bad guys” in the story. Nicely done.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 205 pages
Expected publication: March 9th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626492233
edition languageEnglish
seriesPlaying the Fool #3

Playing the Fool Series in the order they were written and should be read:

The Two Gentlemen of Altona (Playing the Fool, #1)
The Merchant of Death (Playing the Fool, #2)
Tempest (Playing the Fool, #3)

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Rules to Live By – A BDSM Anthology by Heidi Belleau, Lisa Henry, Anah Crow, Dianne Fox, Anna Zabo, and Cari Z

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Rules to Live By – A BDSM Anthology by Heidi Belleau, Lisa Henry, Anah Crow, Dianne Fox,

Anna Zabo, Cari Z.

Four intimate tales of power exchange, discipline, risks taken, and pleasures earned.

Master Key by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox

Navin is surrounded by family in control of their company and feels he can’t live up to their expectations for him—until he starts dating Marquis, and Marq offers Navin the key to his cock cage. It’s because of Marq’s need to be reminded that Navin is important to him and that he needs to make an effort to always be on time for Navin, but it has an unexpected, empowering effect on Navin as it gives him courage to take control in other areas of his life, including his role in his family’s company. The idea seems to be working until one too many things go wrong in one day for Marquis to handle, and he allows himself to doubt his need to submit to Navin in this way. The two nearly don’t get their HEA, but thankfully the simple solution of communication works to get both men back on track. I enjoyed the development of the characters in this story and would like to see it expanded. There’s so much more to explore in their fledgling D/s relationship, and they are so interesting that they deserve their own book. 4 stars

House Rules by Cari Z.

Jonathan lives by the rules established by his lover, Alistair Fraser, an actor who seems to be in a bromance with his co-star in the film that was written by Jonathan himself. Deliberately breaking the rules when he becomes jealous after watching the men on the Academy Awards broadcast, he’s looking forward to a reward after the punishment he knows he deserves. He doesn’t get exactly what he wanted, but he does get the punishment from a master who very evidently loves him enough to do what’s best for him, not what he wants. This is a shorter story than the others in the anthology, but presents a nice glimpse of domestic discipline. 4 stars

The Harder They Fall by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau

A spoiled and neglected rich kid, Tad cashes his allowance in small bills to hire a prostitute at the fancy brothel he recently found, and he’s looking forward to another night of domination and dishing out humiliation on a whore. But instead of getting an old washed-up whore like he requests, he gets “Daddy”, a big, strong, gorgeous, older man with a major dominant streak. And Daddy doesn’t care what Tad wants, Daddy is going to give Tad what he deserves. This is a great story, perfect for those who like some Daddy in their Doms. I would definitely like to read more about these MCs. 5 stars

CTRL Me by Anna Zabo

After breaking up with his homophobic girlfriend when she finds out he is bisexual, Tom agrees to go out with his best friend Gabe on his usual Thursday date night. Little does Tom know that he’s actually accepted a date with a man who can push all of his submissive buttons. Both techies and co-workers, Tom had no idea that Gabe was bi as well. One glance at the length of soft blue rope in Gabe’s glove compartment leads Tom to hope for more than just sex, and it appears that Gabe is just the man to give it to him. This story was a wonderful tale of giving up control through rope bondage. Like some of the other stories, there’s plenty of room here to expand this story, although it felt more complete than many of the others in this book. 5 stars.

My overall rating of 4.5 stars was based on an average of the individual ratings. This would be a good place for someone new to BDSM to start reading. The very talented authors in this volume explore several different aspects of the BDSM lifestyle, enough to give a newcomer inspiration to continue to read more, or to decide that it is not an area they are interested in exploring further.

Cover Art is a photo by L.C. Chase which depicts several items often seen in BDSM scenes: leather cuffs, chains, collar and candle, all artfully displayed. It’s a nice representation for this anthology.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 250 pages
Published February 16th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
(first published February 14th 2015)
original titleRules to Live By
ISBN139781626492516
edition languageEnglish

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Lights! Camera! Cupid! A Bluewater Bay Valentine’s Day Anthology

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Cupid is visiting Bluewater Bay, and he’s leaving chaos in his wake.

It’s been my experience that anthologies generally have stories which are great, not so great, and middle of the road. In this one, that’s not true—they are almost all terrific. To help me come up with an overall rating, I’ve rated each individual story and decided to leave that rating so that readers can see which ones I thought were the best.

The stories are:

Just Another Day by L.A. Witt

Levi Pritchard hates Valentine’s Day. In fact, he absolutely abhors it, so when he comes home to find that his lover Carter Samuels (“Starstruck”) has bought him a rare DVD for his collection and is making Pasta Carbonara, his favorite meal, he knows he’s going to have to say something ,and that it will likely hurt Carter’s feelings. He does, and it does, and after a brief period of time out for both of them and a call by Levi to his friend Anna, he does the unexpected and sits down with Carter to explain why he hates the holiday then takes Carter upstairs for a very special Valentine surprise. Saying more here would spoil the surprise but readers will definitely love it as much as Carter does! 4.5 stars

Nascha by Amy Lane

It never ceases to amaze me that Amy Lane can create an entire story spanning over fifty years, sketch full characters with both a history and a future, stir in a little (or in this case a lot) of angst, and spit out a story that is full, rich, memorable, and creates a lump in my throat and a pain in my heart. If I had to assign one word to this story it would be depressing. Another would be complex. It’s a story about Nascha, an American Indian and gambler, who falls in love with his two best friends, Kitten and Rawlins, from the time they are teens. Though those two legally marry, in their hearts they are a part of him, and it’s Nascha who struggles to feel that he’s bound with them forever, especially when life circumstances stink and he ends up trying to raise his niece, then ultimately his grandnephews, one of who has Asberger’s.

I struggled to get into the story at first, especially since there are some M/F sex scenes at the beginning when the story is being established. Later when the reader is engaged in the plot, all of the scenes make sense but it is a very complex story for so few pages. But it works, and it’s one of the best of the anthology. 4.5 stars

No Easy Way by S.E. Jakes

Cary Teijan, a teacher who holds the interesting job of tutoring both the delinquents who keep getting suspended and the child actors from the Wolf’s Landing TV show being filmed in Bluewater Bay is shocked when he runs into Dylan James on the set. Dylan is the man he was so deeply in love with in high school who has recently returned after six years in the service, and he’s also the subject of the M/M romances Cary writes under a pen name, romances which are highly successful.

Dylan is back and he wants Cary with all the passion he felt years before, but Cary resists with that same degree of passion because Dylan walked away from him without a word, and Cary is finding it hard to forgive and forget. This story is lengthier than most others in the anthology and is both intriguing and exciting. The fun in watching Dylan go after Cary and watching Cary continually give in then run away makes for a great short story and fits perfectly with the Bluewater Bay stories previously released. 5 stars

Helping Hand by Anne Tenino

Lucas Wilder is the son and brother of lumberjacks who have lived and worked in the Bluewater Bay area for generations, but he’s not willing to follow the family footsteps into the logging business. He barely knows how to hold a saw! He’s just been accepted into a prestigious art school, and he’s terrified to tell his homophobic father that there’s now one more reason for his father to hate him. In fact, he gets so flustered that he spills the beans about being gay shortly after he announces his plans to attend college to study art. Thankfully, his best friend Audrey is there to help him through this fiasco as she’s been there for him throughout high school. Both are looking forward to leaving the town behind them forever when they go to college.

Gabriel Savage, lumberjack and best friend of Lucas’s brother Zach, spots Lucas walking home a few nights later and stops to give him a lift. He gives him more than that too—his first sexual experience as a gay man. To be honest, I’m not sure I get the point of this story. I’ve re-read the entire section of their hookup several times and I still don’t quite understand the point the author was trying to make so for me, this story wasn’t on the same level as the others. In fact, whether it was just supposed to be a quick hookup or whether Gabe truly wanted a lasting relationship with Lu, really doesn’t matter. Either way, the story lacked the spark and interest the others held and that’s very disappointing since I generally love Anne Tenino’s work. 3 stars

I’ll Be There by Z. A. Maxfield

This was a great story to cap the anthology as Nash Holly fights desperately to make his way to the Chicago area to be with Spencer Kepler (“Hell on Wheels”) on Valentine’s Day during the worst snow storm to hit the Midwest in years. It isn’t even so much that it’s Valentine’s Day as the fact that Spencer is so socially inept that he fears meeting the guest of honor at the fan convention he’s volunteered to attend—a woman who is dying of cancer. In a brief Skype session with Nash, Spencer reveals more about his feelings related to his own mother’s death from cancer than he even realized himself. Readers get to witness how Spencer acknowledges the past and, learning from it, deals with the present and waits hopefully to see if Nash can make it. And we get to witness Nash as he delves into his true feelings for Spencer and his gratitude for having Spencer in his life. Their love is greater than the sum of both parts and this story is perfect for their first Valentine’s Day together. 5 stars

If you’ve been reading the Bluewater Bay stories, you know they can each be read as a standalone, as can this anthology. However, readers of the stories will recognize the characters in the first and last stories of this anthology and that will only add to the enjoyment of the book. I recommend this one to all lovers of M/M romance and especially to those who enjoy the added spice of the Valentine’s Day holiday and all of the ways love can be expressed.

Cover art by L.C. Chase depicts a movie set clipboard with a faded out red background of two of the MCs looking at each other with stars in their eyes. Perfect for the stories inside.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 226 pages
Published February 9th 2015 by Riptide (first published February 7th 2015)
ISBN139781626492615
edition languageEnglish
seriesBluewater Bay #6

Bluewater Bay series, one location, different authors (and all highly recommended by Barb and Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words:

Starstruck (Bluewater Bay #1) by LA Witt
There’s Something About Ari (A Bluewater Bay Story) by LB Gregg
Hell on Wheels (Bluewater Bay #3) by ZA Maxfield
Lone Wolf (Bluewater Bay #4) by Aleksandr Voinov
The Burnt Toast B&B (Bluewater Bay #5) by Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz
Lights! Camera! Cupid! A Bluewater Bay Valentine’s Day Anthology

Heading Into March and This Week’s Schedule at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

We are heading into March and this week holds many wonderful things for all of you. The Pulp Friction Gang is back and talking about this year’s series which is located in New Orleans and set within Laura Harner and T.A. Webb’s Altered States universe of supernatural beings and events. If you are thinking vampires, werewolves and ghosts you would be right. I will be reviewing the Altered States books all week to lead up to the first in the Pulp Friction series story ! Stay turned for more developments!

Here is our schedule this week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Monday, March 2:

Extended book blast ‘Oliver‘ by Catherine Lievens (Lion and Bear shifters….oh my!) (contest)
A Paul B Review: Ansleigh’s Grotto by JT Cheyanne
A MelanieM Review: Splat by Anna Ankh
A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Lights! Camera! Cupid! A Bluewater Bay Valentine’s Day Anthology

Tuesday, March 3:

In the Spotlight: Annabeth Albert ‘Served Hot’ (contest)
A Stella Review: A Stone in the Road by Nick Wilgus
A BJ Review: Song of the Navigator by Astrid Amara
A MelanieM Review: Stolen Dreams by Sue Brown

Wednesday, March 4:

Opening Day by Alexis Woods‏ Book Tour and Author Interview
It Over by Hurri Cosmo Tour and contest
Catherine L. Byrne’s Some Other Freedom Tour and Contest
The Pulp Friction Gang is Here, And Its All About Pulp Friction 2015!
A MelanieM Review: Deep Blues Goodbye (Altered States, #1) by Laura Harner and T.A. Webb

Thursday, March 5:

On Tour With BA Tortuga’s Ever The Same exclusive excerpt tour and contest
Lissa Kasey’s Inheritance Book Tour and Contest
A Sammy Review: True Brit by Con Riley
A Paul B Review: Layne, River & Damion by Vicktor Alexander (Storming Love: Blizzard #4)
A MelanieM Review: Deadly Shades of Gold (Altered States, #2) by Laura Harner and TA Webb

Friday, March 6:

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Rules to Live By – A BDSM Anthology
A MelanieM Review: Road Trip by A.F. Henley
MelanieM Review: Free Falling Crimson (Altered States, #3) by Laura Harner and T.A. Webb
A Stella Review: Shaken Up by Nicole Forcine

Saturday, March 7:

A Stella Review: Lucky Seven by E.L. Esch

A Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Alpha Delta by RJ Scott (part of the Alpha collection from ARe)

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Finn Hallan is a member of the elite Norwegian Emergency Response Unit, code name Delta. As part of his mandatory training, he needs to sit through a series of lectures on decommissioning oil platforms, a time when the platforms have only a skeleton crew and are in greater danger of terrorist activity. Scottish engineer Niall Faulkner is one of the guest lecturers and it’s his slim, sexy physique, rather than the topic of the lecture, that immediately captures Finn’s attention.

Over the next few months, the two become lovers, though with both their jobs demanding so much travel, they don’t get to see each other often. And, though Niall now knows that he loves Finn, Finn has been focusing on keeping their relationship casual.

But when Niall is sent out to the Forseti platform to begin the decommissioning process, something goes terribly wrong, and he finds himself running for his life. Apparently the security team who accompanied him to the platform is not security at all, but a team of terrorists. When Delta team is sent to respond to the situation, and Finn realizes that his man is onboard, he has to face the fact that he may lose him, just when he was ready to finally declare his love.

The story is fast-paced, complex, and full of nail-biting tension. Can Finn rescue Niall? And will Niall and Finn finally have a chance to declare their love before it’s too late? Readers will enjoy this M/M romance adventure.

The only thing that caused me to downgrade my rating from 4 stars to 3 stars is the very sloppy (if any) editing. There were several instances of character confusion, and they weren’t minor. It’s almost as if the publishers took the first draft and printed it without an editor or proofreader review. These errors were so obvious that I can’t possibly overlook them, and though I hate to downgrade an author’s work, in this case, the errors affected my enjoyment of the story so strongly that I feel I have no choice.

So, if you are looking for a quick read that’s full of adventure, with a gorgeous alpha MC, and editorial errors don’t bug you, you should enjoy this one.

Cover artist:

Available only at All Romance (ARe)

Book Details:

Published By: OmniLit / All Romance eBooks, LLC
Published: Feb 02, 2015
ISBN # 9781936387793
Word Count: 20,500

The Alpha Series includes M/F as well as M/M Stories.
STRW will be reading and reviewing only the LGBTQ novels, including:

Two Howls by Sean Michael
Midnight Run by Bailey Bradford
Jumping In by C Cardeno
Seducing Rain by Amber Kell
Alpha, Delta by RJ Scott

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review – Stay With Me by S.E. Harmon ~ Audiobook narrated by Michael Stellman

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Mac (Mackenzie Williams) is a former cop, now private investigator who falls for his latest client—gorgeous lawyer, Jordan Channing. Jordan wants Mac to follow his fiancé who he suspects may be seeing another man. The problem is that over the course of the investigation Mac falls for Jordan, and it appears that the formerly straight Jordan feels the same about Mac.

Mac’s life is a bit complicated with past loves that he left each time he thought it was getting serious. His excuse? Everyone leaves him so if he chooses to go first, it won’t hurt. The reality is that Mac’s mother left him and it’s warped his sense of self-worth to the point where he can’t hold a serious relationship. His first major relationship with Nick ended when they were recovering from an auto accident which crippled Nick and left Mac with a bad knee. His next with Trevor, another attorney, ended when Trevor found a woman more attractive. The truth is that it was Mac himself who turned away from them, so no matter how he spins the tale and no matter what excuse he makes, the bottom line is that he’s the one who ran from commitment.

There’s a complex underlying storyline about both Nick and Trevor. In Nick’s case, he’s been trying to reconnect with Mac for quite a while. Now happily co-owner of an inn in Vermont with his partner Peyton, Nick really wants to be a friend to Mac. Trevor slides in and out of the story primarily because he’s in the same law firm as Jordan and because Mac feels that their dog, Finn, is more his dog than Trevor’s, and he wants him back. A little B&E toward the end of the story proves this point clearly.

Mac and Jordan seem to be on again, off again as Jordan finds himself struggling to come to terms with being attracted to a man. And Mac finds out that Jordan is still seeing his fiancé at various points in time, causing him to leap to his own conclusions about their relationship.

Listening to this story on audiobook was difficult for many reasons, primarily because there were so many past relationships and male characters in the story that it was hard to follow who was friend or relative and who was former friend or boyfriend. The narrator’s voices for both MCs were similar enough that it was difficult to pinpoint who was talking just by listening to the intonation. Added to that, the fact that Mac was such a whipping boy when it came to relationships that he took on the guilt for all the past breakups and for misunderstanding Jordan’s relationship with his fiancé was something I couldn’t wrap my head around.

It also stuck me as odd that in this story Mac’s old boyfriend left him for a woman, and now his new boyfriend is leaving a woman for him—that’s a bit too far-fetched to be believable. I also think the story would have been much more effective if the author had alternated POV’s so that we would hear Jordan’s voice. I’ve never read (or listened to) a GFY story which was not told from the POV of the straight man who goes gay. I just found it odd that Jordan fell so readily in lust with Mac and always seemed to know exactly what to do in each sexual situation.

So all in all, I didn’t care much for the story itself, though I didn’t hate it. I definitely found Mac to be in need of major mental health counseling, didn’t know where Jordan was coming from or what he really wanted until the end of the story, and didn’t feel that the narration added anything extra to the story.

If I was planning to recommend this one to readers, I’d say that it would be one for those who enjoy self-inflicted angst and an MC definitely in need of nurturing. And, since this is an audiobook review, I’ll say that I wouldn’t recommend the audiobook over the e-book or paperback simply because of the difficulty of following all of the characters as they weave in and out of the story.

Cover Artist: Anna Sikorska. I don’t see that it lends anything to the story at all.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press Audible iTunes Amazon

Audio Book Details:

Cover Artist Anna Sikorska
Narrator Michael Stellman
Length 10 hours and 5 minutes
AudiobooksS.E. Harmon
Book Type Audiobook
Other Formats
eBookPaperback

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review:Turkish Delight by Trina Lane

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Garrett Sloan is a project manager for Totally Five Star Hotels which is building a luxury hotel in Istanbul. They plan to make it highly exclusive and state of the art, yet it must blend with the culture of the area. As the story opens, Garrett is set to convey a last minute change of plans to French architect Kyle LaFleure as he arrives in Turkey just as the construction is set to begin. Garrett has been drooling over the gorgeous Frenchman for years but is staying professional and holding himself back from acting on his attraction. It’s evident that Kyle is equally attracted to him so when local stonework artisan Emir Sahin shows up to work with them on the hotel and both appear to be drawn to the sexy smoking-hot man, it poses a conundrum for Garrett. How can he be so attracted to two men at once?

When a situation arises in which all three men are drawn together, they finally act on their attraction and it’s evident that no one of the three means more than the others to each of the three. Confusing? Basically, each man seeks out both of the others and eventually all three fall in love. Most of the story takes place over the course of the year and a half it takes to build the hotel, and most of the story is about their sex life. There’s threesomes and twosomes and every conceivable position that three men can get into. If you like a little story with a lot of sex, this one is for you.

The major angst in Garrett’s life is a job decision he’s forced to make– Should he take on the CFO job offered to him by his mentor when it will mean that he needs to live in London? Though he would love the job, he doesn’t want to ask Emir to leave his homeland. <spoiler>.

Kyle has no angst. Basically, he’s just the filling in the man sandwich. Emir’s angst revolves around his family and their desire for him to marry. He has to choose whether or not to tell his parents that he’s gay. Of the old traditional culture, it’s unlikely that they will accept him once they know.

If I were to count the pages in this book and compare the content of the story outside of the sex scenes, it would likely be less than a third. Though the sex scenes were imaginative and hot, after a while I wanted the story to move on to the conclusion rather than to read about their threesome one more time.

I would recommend it to those who enjoy reading ménage and/or those who like a lot of sex in their books, but not to anyone looking for a serious drama.

Cover Art by Posh Gosh nicely depicts the three MCs as described within the story, and includes objects which symbolize elements present in the story.

Sales Links: Totally Bound All Romance (ARe) Amazon links coming Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: March 6th 2015 by Totally Bound
ISBN139781784304355
edition languageEnglish
urlhttps://www.totallybound.com

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review of Take Heart by Willa Okati

Rating; 2.5 stars out of 5

Dr Brendan West arrives at St. Hawk’s Medical Center for two reasons: first, because he’s onboard as a temp in the ER to cover for another doctor on leave, and second, because he’s heard great things about this area— stories that made him feel that there’s a charm to the town that brings good things to good people. He starts to feel the peace and serenity of the area and enjoy the charm of the town but is afraid to jump in wholeheartedly because he knows his time here is only temporary.

He meets Evan, a heart transplant patient who’s there for an annual checkup and is immediately attracted, then disappointed that Evan is taken when his partner, Griff, walks in. Griff is sending signals that Brendan is afraid he might be misinterpreting. He feels Griff checking him out but that couldn’t be—because he and Evan are a couple, aren’t they? It turns out that Griff and Evan have been known to take on a third over the years and they would like Brendan to join them for a night, or more, of ménage. He finally takes them up on their offer, and it’s more than he could have hoped for. They want him to stay permanently, but he’s sets his boundaries knowing he’s going to be leaving. The story is mostly about that push-pull struggle to decide what to do, i.e. self-inflicted angst as Brendan hovers between wanting to commit to them and wanting to stay detached.

It’s hard to put into words why this story didn’t grab me, but the easiest way to describe it is that it was as if I went to see a movie where the characters spoke quietly in short, staccato sentences, grunts, and mumbles, and the videographer set the scene too dark to be able to make out which characters were speaking, and then to top it all off, it was hard to see what they were actually doing at the time. I had to reread passages and entire pages multiple times to verify who was speaking. I also had trouble visualizing exactly what position each character was in during the sex scenes, but that may have been complicated by the fact that I wasn’t sure who was speaking so it was just hard to imagine. And why have a sex scene if the reader can’t visualize it?

There were many secondary characters in the story so I kept expecting that some action would take place with them, but they either weren’t important to the story or the interaction didn’t take place on page. One example is Brendan’s boss, Dr. Gabriel. We see him outside of office hours but the “important meeting” he’s supposed to have with Brendan is glossed over in that scene. Most men in the story were apparently gay as well, so perhaps the author was introducing characters who will be featured in future installments of this St. Hawk’s Medical Center series.

And my last issue is that I never really understood why Evan and Griff felt that Brendan was so different that they wanted to make the offer to join them permanent. They certainly had no reason to do so from the beginning since they really didn’t even know him at first, and they had previously played with other men in a threesome, so why he was special just didn’t seem to make sense. Perhaps if the author had filled in more on their background or indicated in some way that they had been searching for a permanent third for a long time, it would have made a bit more sense when they got together with him.

The more I write this review, the more I realize that it feels like I’m trying to remember details of a fuzzy dream, and they aren’t coming to me. I’m going to assume that’s because of my above description of how difficult it was to follow the storyline. So I’ll just end the review by saying that if you love ménage, you might like this, but it’s not something that I would recommend to others looking for a romance novel with a strong storyline.

Cover Art by Posh Gosh depicts a handsome, bare-chested man with a scenic landscape background. Although the cover is attractive, it does not depict details of the story.

Sales Links: Totally Bound Books All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

Novella, word count: 34341
ISBN: 9781784303891
eBook
genres: gay, menage, contemporary, series

St. Hawk’s Medical Series:

Take Heart
Give Chase

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