Tag: A MelanieM Highly Recommended Read

A MelanieM Review: Creature Comfort by Rob Rosen

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Creature ComfortThree hundred years into the apocalypse, centuries-old zombie queen, Creature Comfort, and the love of her afterlife, Dara Licked, see a plane land near their salt factory in Utah.  Its the same plane that carried her friends and fellow drag queens, Destiny St. James, Kit Kat, and Blondella Bombshell off to New York City.  Now that same plane has landed 300 years later and out pop some drag queens asking for their help!  How could they refuse?

Soon Creature and her beloved, Dara, find themselves beneath a gussied-up Lady Liberty, surrounded by a race of fabulous drag queens. Humanity (what’s left of it) is in dire trouble, attacked by unseen menacing forces. Can Creature and Dara and a host of new friends possibly save the day?

Last year Rob Rosen published a story, Queens of the Apocalypse, featuring drag queens, zombies and, of course, an apocalypse.  I loved it.  It had humor, a whole lot of heart, and spunk!  Lots and lots of spunk!  Now at least one of the queens is back, the zombie one of course, in Rob Rosen’s Creature Comfort, and I admit I was a little leery about diving back into a universe and revisiting characters that I adored.

When you give a book 5 stars and love the ending, having a sequel can be a mixed blessing.  What if you don’t like what happens after the first book ended?  What if the magic and sparkle that made the first story so special is missing in the sequel? Yikes!  But I am happy to report that I  don’t see that happened here…mostly.

Creature Comfort picks up 300 years after Creature’s fellow and still human drag queens, Destiny St. James, Kit Kat, and Blondella, left her behind in a salt factory in Salt Lake City, along with a  small group of humans to find (hopefully) safety and sanctuary in New York City.  Creature had been brought back to a sort of living dead (yet totally fabulous) existence by the means of iodized salt so what better place to live than surrounded by salt!  Even better, Creature finds her soulmate in another gay zombie, drag queen Dara!  So far so good.

But Rob Rosen makes it clear that Creature and Dara’s existence has been pretty drab for a long, long time.  When the plane arrives (“da plane, da plane”), and three pretty young and human people pop out dressed like drag queens asking for help, its clear a road trip of apocalyptic proportions  is in the works.  By then I realized how much I had missed this quixotic, kind of horrible yet wonderful universe.  And Creature of course.

From the beginning Rosen starts building in the mystery and suspense.  The plane?  It’s exactly the one that Creature’s friends left in.  And why is everyone wearing drag when they aren’t gay?  And in one of the books funnier moments, when the Statue of Liberty comes into view, Creature and Dara notice (how  can they not) that she has been given a drag queen makeover too, complete with lipstick and glitter.  How fabulous!

But Rosen’s stories don’t shine on humor alone.  No, there is plenty of pathos and pain to go around and soon clues are falling into place that nothing is as it seems.  And we find out what happened to my favorite drag queens.

Soon it is up to Creature and her love, Dara to save humanity one more time and from a most unexpected source!  To do so, Rosen has created two more memorable characters, songstress Lola Fontaine (“winner of two Tony’s”) and her husband Lester aka Ricky, whose love for each other can’t be denied.  Between the four of them, the power of love and some fabulous zombie queens and their partners save the world once more.  Its fun, snarky, full of glitter and high-heels (Jimmy Cho’s), some laughter and tears.  Ok, not so much that as zombies can’t cry.  But you get what I’m aiming for.  Rosen brings real feelings and substance to zombies in love in a post apocalyptic world.  And even with two elements that made me less than happy (Rob, you know what they are), I  found myself falling back in love all over again.

If you are unfamiliar with the first story, some of Creature Comfort might be a little slow going and confusing at first.  Rob Rosen will fill in the blanks about the universe he built in Queens of the Apocalypse here but it takes time.  Much better to have read the first story and be well prepared for this one.  It gives you a ready made base for the humor inherent in the House of Bombshell and the House of St. James now so much a part of society on Liberty Island, to say nothing of Saint Creature!

And the ending leaves open the possibility of yet another story for Creature, Dara, Lola and Lester.  I hope so.  I would love to see what happens when they all get back to Utah.  It should be a doozy!  In the meantime, if you love zombies, drag queens and some wild action/adventure, well, then, Creature Comfort is the story for you!  Its fast paced, funny, sometimes a litle sad but always, always entertaining.  I highly recommend it as well as Queens of the Apocalypse, along with author Rob Rosen.  Don’t pass them up!

Cover artist?  Like the cover but its a little simplistic.  I far prefer the cover of the first story, Queens of the Apocalypse!

Sales Links:  Amazon        Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 238 pages
Published February 12th 2015 by Fierce Publishing
ASINB00PMHZOSY
edition languageEnglish

A MelanieM Review: Conscious Decisions of the Heart (More Heat Than the Sun #2)

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

 Ben Rider and Nikolas Mikkelsen learn that danger comes in all shapes and sizes and often in places you least expect it.

Conscious Decisions of the Heart civIn order to appease an ex friend and covert op whose been hunting Nikolas and Ben, Nikolas heads back to Russia and his past on an errand of mercy, leaving an uncertain Ben  behind with Radulf.  Left at loose ends and missing  Nikolas terribly, Ben lights out on his own, this time to Denmark to learn Nikolas’s language and visit some of the places where Nikolas grew up. Soon Ben settles in, making friends in the small town and become prolific (or so he thinks) in Danish.  Alone and certain that Nikolas is in danger in Russia, Ben doesn’t see the enemy that is much closer to home to the peril of them all.

And when the danger explodes, it leaves them all, including Nikolas, permanently scarred and forever changed.

What an amazing series!  With Conscious Decisions of the Heart, John Wiltshire manages to give his readers a frightening mystery, a suspenseful drama, a heartbreaking romance and an exploration of the island of Aeroe, in Denmark (an excellent reason to google what is said to be one of the most beautiful spots in Denmark), all these things rolled into one gripping tale of love, passion, and suspense.

That cover alone is a clue this is not a story for the faint of heart.  Picking up after Love is a Stranger, both Ben and Nikolas find themselves in uncertain times, their previous lives in shambles and, for the first time, trying to be honest with each other about their feelings and new relationship.  But with these two complicated men who have secrets the way other men have tee times, the past is never completely out of the picture.  It will cause Nikolas to travel to Russia on their behalf so he and Ben may feel safe as well as to find some measure of closure in a relationship from his past.

Wiltshire does such an excellent job with these characters.  Already beautifully fleshed out and believable, he continues to build layers upon layers into each of their personalities and histories, peeling away some traits to reveal others lying just underneath, a pattern that continues with each man’s history and background.  Just when you think you might have some idea of how a character will behave or where he comes from, Wiltshire demolishes that bit of certainty with an astonishing new fact or shocking denouement!

And no, I absolutely won’t go into any of that here.  Sacrilege, indeed.

Conscious Decisions of the Heart feels like a magician’s act, full of sleight of hand tricks that lull you into thinking you know where the dangers are to be found and that you have a handle on the plot, all while the feature illusion has been forming and explodes with a ferocity you didn’t foresee (and neither do the characters).    And there is more than one.  It takes your breathe away.  And every aspect of this story is so well written and plotted, it just works! I loved all the action and adventure and, yes, shear terror, that the author brings to this story.  And some will break your heart.  Really, John Wiltshire, how could you do that to….sigh.

But what is equally astonishing is that while all the major elements are in flux, Ben and Nikolas become steadier, more committed to each other and their relationship. You watch the progress, the small and large steps, and your commitment to these men and their story just gets deeper. How I love this series.

I would have given this book a 5 star rating (it deserves it) but it definitely can’t be read on its own.  Part of the power (and Wiltshire’s puzzle in the making) comes from reading all parts in the order they were written.  Each book continues to build on the  previous story and without some of the back knowledge, balancing and understanding all these pieces and personalities becomes problematic.    So, if new to the series, run, lope, gallop, whatever, back to Love is a Stranger, then move onto to this story.  I am one step ahead and more books (and reviews) will be coming!  Join me along the way!

This is seriously addictive stuff here, and one of my highly recommended reads!

Cover Art by Deana Jamroz is terrifying, stark, and absolutely perfect for this story.  Be Warned, then continue on!

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

Book Details:

ebook
Published July 3rd 2014 by MLR Press
ISBN 1020140265
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.mlrbooks.com
seriesMore Heat Than the Sun #2

More Heat Than the Sun Series Books in the Order they were written and should be read:

Love is a Stranger (More Heat Than the Sun #1)
Conscious Decisions of the Heart (More Heat Than the Sun #2)
The Bridge of Silver Wings (More Heat Than the Sun, #3)
This Other Country (More Heat Than the Sun, #4)
The Bruise Black Sky (More Heat Than the Sun, #5) coming soon

A MelanieM Review: Trowchester Blues (Trowchester Blues) by Alex Beecroft

Rating: 4.75 stars rounded up to 5 out of 5

Trowchester Blues coverAs a Metropolitan Police Officer Michael May has seen it all, including the worst people can do to each other,  and it’s getting to him.  When confronted by the monster who has tortured and murdered a number of young girls, Michael loses it and  assaults him.  The ramifications of an officer attacking “an alleged suspect” will be ignored only if Michael “retires”.  It’s an act he agrees with even if it destroys a part of him.

The recent death of his brutal father gives Michael a place to disappear to, the small quaint town of Trowchester.  He’s inherited his childhood home with all its damaging memories of his abusive father and frail mom, and the narrowboats moored at the shared dock behind the house.   Beset by memories, afraid of his own rage, Michael is lost until a chance meeting with the town’s antique book seller changes everything.

Fintan Hulme is now an honest man.  Five years ago that wasn’t the case.  Then Finn was a happy  high class London fence, specializing in rare books and object’s d’Art.  But then everything changed and Finn turned his back on his old life and criminal associates to open a antique book shop in Trowchester where he became a model citizen.

Until the past finds him once more and embroils him in a crime with far reaching consequences.

For Finn, falling in love with an ex-cop with anger management issues is the last thing he should be doing, only he can’t seem to help himself.  And Michael, unaware of Finn’s background, is just starting to trust his instincts and people once more.

When the past collides with the present, and criminals starting to appear around every corner,  can an ex-cop and ex-con pull together to save not only their relationship but their lives as well?

Trowchester Blues by Alex Beecroft is such an amazing story.  It hooked me in from the opening paragraphs and our heartbreaking introduction to burned out cop Michael May.  He and his partner, Jenny Smith (another well done character), enter a basement that contains the mutilated corpse of a young girl.  The descriptions are horrifying and the reactions of May and his partner human and unstandable. But for Michael May, its the final straw, the last act of a depraved monster that puts Michael’s rage at himself and society over the top.  It’s impact is visceral, the memories of it on the reader and May lingers throughout the story.

We get May’s frustration and anger at his inability to keep something like this from happening as well as the possibility that the murderer will get off with a light sentence and do it again.  But the years and Michael’s abusive past turns Michael into a vengeful attacker, something that no law enforcement agency can afford to have working for them.   The scenes within the Metropoliton Police Station and its Captain give Michael an  authentic background and an avenue for our empathy and feelings for this sad, lonely man.  And the darkness follows May and the story as the location changes to the village of Trowchester.

This story has so many layers to it and all the characters you will meet.  These are complicated people with varied pasts, intellect and skills.  Michael, Finn, and all the rest lead lives that will fascinate, and compel you on through adventures, events both glorious and disastrous in nature. It’s sexy, and hot.  Be prepared for a little kink but the reasoning and actions not only make sense but feel right for both men and their burgeoning relationship. It all works sublimely as a whole. Beecroft’s narrative is lively, magnetic in its ability to hold your attention, and gripping in its suspense and ability to surprise you.  I hated to put this book down.

Confession time.  I wanted Trowchester to be real even though I knew through the author’s notes it was fabricated for the story.  Trowchester felt alive, its aged streets and canals so imaginatively described that I felt as though I could see them.  And it was the perfect setting in which to meet Fintan Hulme, a beautifully realized former thief of intellectual and emotional depth.  What a perfect character, not just in his personal qualities,  the wonderful way in which the author constructed him.  Fintan has such dimension, including his love of books. That is especially conveyed through the shop he owns and has lovingly decorated. It in his passionate tirade delivered to an unfortunate and all important book owner.  Fintan is a puzzle, but one the reader will love to figure out.  We take him to heart and fear for him when his past finds him again. And his matchup with a fireplug of an ex-cop who is his intellectual and emotional match is a true wonder.

I loved everything about this story, including learning about the narrowboats (more googling to my delight), and antique books. I enjoyed Beecroft’s creation of a village where the economical vicissitudes have wrought  a revival that brings with it the world-weary sophisticates and gay tea shop owners but still has a dark side that exists along the docks.  The suspense and pain of discovery, the desolate past that mixes with a hopeful but shaky present for all involved here.  Even a “ghost” in need of help appears and grabs at our hearts.  And I realized that the last thing I wanted to do was see the end of this story.  I wanted Trowchester Blues to continue and enlarge, pulling in more of the characters we meet along the way to the resolution.

Lucky for us, we’re going to get it.  Alex Beecroft is not done with Trowchester yet.  Be still my heart.  There is more to come. Alex Beecroft has at least 2 more stories planned for 2015 in the Trowchester series and I can’t wait.  Until then, grab up this marvelous tale and make the acquaintance of two opposite yet equally compelling men and their journey towards love and a future together.  It’s a book you won’t want to put down and one you will happily pick up again and again while waiting for the next in the series.  It’s one of my highly recommended reads!

Cover Artist Lou Harper does an amazing job.  It’s perfect.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing    All Romance (ARe)  Amazon    Buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 290 pages
Expected publication: February 9th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626491984
edition languageEnglish
seriesTrowchester Blues

Books in the Trowchester series are:

  • Trowchester Blues (Trowchester #1) to be published February 9th, 2015
  • Blue Eyed Stranger (Trowchester Blues #2) to be published April 6, 2015 by Riptide
  • Blue Steel Chain (Trowchester Blues #3) to be published July 27, 2015 by Riptide

A MelanieM Review: Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

Waiting for the Flood coverTwelve years ago Edwin Tully was happy.  Edwin was in love with Marius, had been since college.  They had found a perfect home, a cottage by the river in Oxford.  Edwin rescued and restored the books while Marius painted.  It was a wonderful life. Until it wasn’t.  Until 2 years ago when Marius informed Edwin he didn’t love him anymore and Edwin discovered his happy life was a lie.

Now Edwin’s life feels hollow. He still loves the work he does but he lives alone in his house meant for a forever two, tending only to his elderly neighbor, his books and his memories.  Until the rains come and the waters in the river start to rise, threatening his neighborhood and his house.

The rains and flooding bring Adam Dacre from the Environment Agency. An unlikely knight in  worn wellingtons, Adam offers Edwin his help, and his friendship and something more.  Adam offers Edwin the promise of a new “us” and the hope for a new beginning.  Now if only Edwin can gather his courage to give his heart away one more time.

Alexis Hall, Alexis Hall, how is it that it took 2 recent stories for me to find you?  Twice now you have managed to blow me away with your lyricism and virtuosity with the English language.   First it was Sand and Ruin and Gold, and now Waiting for the Flood, a stunning  story whose words are strung together like pearls and whose characters move with a quiet, fluid determination and respect through the current events and past traumas of their lives.   I kept wanting someone to come and read it out loud to me so I could close my eyes and savor the words and sentences the way a person might sit in the dark listening to their favorites symphonies.

This is our introduction to Edwin Tully:

When I tell people what I do, they always want to know if I’ve worked on anything famous. The Ben Johnson Shakespeare. The Austen juvenilia. The Abinger papers.

I have, but these aren’t the projects I cherish.

What I like are diaries and letters, commonplace books and ledgers, calendars, invitations and almanacs: the everyday documents of nobody in particular. Ephemera, it’s called. From Ephemeridae, those frail-legged mayfly, with their lace- and-stained-glass wings, who live only for a day.

I wonder, sometimes, if it’s a strange occupation, this semi-obsessive preservation of the transitory. But, whereas for some people history is a few loud voices, declaiming art the and making war across the centuries, for me it’s a whispering chorus of laundry day and grocer’s bills, dress patterns and crop rotations, the price of tallow.

 

What becomes clear almost immediately is Edwin’s love and knowledge of words.  The reason why Edwin feels and talks (or doesn’t talk) the way he does becomes understandable and real for his character., even more so as he is forced by Adam and his attraction to Adam into conversation. But its as the rains fall and the water rises that Edwin and the reader take measure of what his life has become, complete with empty spaces on the walls where Marius’ painting once hung and the dust in the room that Edwin no longer uses.  It’s sad, intimate and Edwin’s loneliness and stasis comes sharply into focus. And the more time we spend inside this smart, isolated man’s mind, the more completely we take him to heart.

And then there is Adam Dacre, a character who continues to surprise scene after scene.  He rises out of the water, carrying sandbags, a warrior in wellingtons, who sees a future in Edwin.  When Edwin finally ventures out to find some sandbags, he discovers Adam:

A laugh. But it wasn’t unkind. “Aye, really.”

At last, I was able to look at him, connect the voice to a body, and resolve them both into the impression of a person. Awkward height and ungainly limbs stuffed untidily into orange waders and Wellington boots. He turned away, and began to unhook the sides of the truck.

I stared at the back of his neck and at his hair, which was a schoolboy tousle only charity would have called red. It was orange, carrot, ginger, marmalade, shining like an amber traffic light, tempting you to try your luck and run.

Mrs. Peaberry, his intrepid neighbor, is another joy and cornerstone here. Her presence helps to anchor it, giving it a foundation and an observant voice for Edwin and the reader to listen to. I adored Mr.s Peaberry, with her stoic nature and kindness.  And outside of a few mentions of other people, that’s about the extent of the characters here.  This is an intimate stage, the location in or next to Edwin’s cottage that is being closed off from the world around it by the rising waters. Although in truth, it’s Edwin who has closed it off with his memories and refusal to move forward.  Its his path forward towards hope and love, however halting, that glues all the fabulous sentences and word choices together and brings the heart of the story alive.

So many analogies here, so many interesting formats and structures to look at and enjoy.  Each chapter is labeled with a part of Edwin’s home.  And his memories precede the start of each chapter.  We enter the story by means of Chapter One, The Front Door.  Through it lies Edwin, entombed in his past, waiting for something or someone to jostle him out of the rut he has gotten himself into.  Chapter after chapter we move through the rooms and Edwin’s memories, followed by the events happening in the present.  It’s a wonderfully engaging structure and it pulled me in completely.

Chapter one: The Front Door

Is green.

With frosted glass panels and a big chunky knocker. The bell doesn’t work. Has never worked. He remembers that first viewing, standing in front of it, expectant, hopeful, hand-in-hand with Marius.

He remembers, like his first kiss, the first time he put the key in the lock, turning first the wrong way, then the right, fumbling over the not-yet-familiar gesture.

It’s heartbreaking, and true, these gentle slices into the heart by means of memory of happier times.  I could really quote this story all day.  Hall’s use of language and structure mirroring that of a composer’s use of notes and chords to build a sonata or symphony, the lyricism is the same. This story so like a melody in composition and fluidity.

That water, the flood, is the force majeure is one more sparkling element in Waiting for the Flood.  While floods these days are considered catastrophic, we forget that they are a necessary part of nature, that floods act to cleanse and renew, washing away the debris even as the retreating flood leaves behind sediment that fertilizes the soil, allowing for new growth and new beginnings. That’s exactly the role that the flood plays here.  The delight is Edwin’s journey through the waters and out into a bright new future.  It’s one I will make again and again.

Just as Sand and Gold and Ruin was one of my Best of 2014, Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall has already found itself on my Best Books of 2015 list.  I highly recommend it and, its author Alexis Hall to all readers and lovers of the written word. And don’t over look the delightful surprise at the end.  It’s a recipe for Edwin’s not always successful Elderflower Wine.   It’s as fascinating, joyful and resourceful as you could want.

Cover artist Simone did a lovely job but any cover would be hard put to match the magical story  found within.  Only the cover of Sand and Gold and Ruin came close.  This is not that cover in tone or design.  I wish it was.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 95 pages, available for preorder
Expected publication: February 23rd 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626492700 (ISBN13: 9781626492707)
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://riptidepublishing.com/titles/waiting

A MelanieM Review: A Minor Inconvenience by Sarah Granger

Rating: 4.75 (rounded up to 5) stars out of 5

Duty, honor, propriety…all fall in the face of love. 

A Minor Inconvenience coverAs Lord Wellington wages war against Napoleon, Captain Hugh Fanshawe, third son of Lord Fanshawe, returns from the Peninsular War permanently injured.  His leg torn apart by a French musket ball, Hugh is reduced to quiet, lonely days compiling paperwork at Horse Guards headquarters, the one place he can still make a difference.

From the battlefields to his office, now Hugh’s life is only interrupted by his mother and sister’s social schedule as he accompanies them to functions and galas.  Hugh’s only solace is that his mother no longer tries to fix his up with “suitable girls” with large dowries, thanks to his injuries.  Then Hugh’s restricted, lonely life is upended with the arrival of Colonel Theo Lindsay.

Theo is everything Hugh is not—a man of physical perfection and easy yet distinguished address. Surprisingly to Hugh, Theo appears to be interested in befriending him. Theo turns out to be a pivotal person in Hugh’s life.  An embarrassing turn of events reveals their fondness for the company of men, and soon, a friendship forms that quickly turns into something sexual and deep.

But there’s a mighty war still being fought, and a suspicion of a French spy at work in the Horse Guards.  The search for the spy’s identity and the subsequent revelations will have drastic consequences on all involved, not the least of which is Hugh’s heart!

What an amazing story!  I am so fond of M/M historical romances but accompanying that love of historical fiction is a critical eye towards the locations, settings, and cultural references of the times.  Too often that’s where a novelist goes astray, with dates, people and events not thoroughly researched.  But not here!  No, Sarah Granger has done a fabulous job of bringing the tumultuous times of the Peninsula War (1807 to 1814) to life in every way.  Through the eyes of Hugh (our narrator) we overhear the correspondence to and from Wellington as the war wages overseas and the incompetence and politics interfering with Wellington’s progress (or lack of) at home.  There are recounted clashes and tortured remembrances of bloody campaigns in Spain, and every scene, every bit of dialog feels believable and authentic.

But Granger doesn’t stop there with pulling us into the life of the English ton and upper society.  Hugh’s young sister, Sophie is fond of milliners, mantua-makers and such and is often found regaling Hugh with the descriptions of her latest gowns even as Hugh’s eyes glaze over.  I adored Sophie and her relationship with Hugh is telling, tender and happily contributes to our portrait of the man.

There are the uniforms of the 52nd Foot, the 95th Rifles and Horse Guards, the dress of the men in formal and informal occasions, the barouches, curricles, and phaeton’s and other horse drawn carriages of the times.  There’s the mention that Hugh’s valet wishes his master would have his coats made at Weston instead of patronizing Scott, an inferior tailor. And when Hugh’s not paying attention, the valet manages to tie Hugh’s neckcloth in the Mathematical style.  I could go on and go, the references accurately framing out the author’s time period for her story and giving A Minor Inconvenience a solid historical  foundation and universe upon which her characters and plot stand quite easily.

However, wonderful an author’s world building translates, it still needs great characters to breathe life into the story.  Hugh and Theo are marvelous characters believable in their ages, experiences and background.  But no matter how much I adored Theo, its Hugh that’s this story’s emotional center.  Hugh sees himself as a stolid, good sort of fellow. Not up to the gloriousness of his brothers and sister.  The oldest George is now Lord Fanshawe, intelligent, responsible and grave in his duties.  The second brother is James, a god in appearance, brave without fault, charismatic and an officer close to Wellington. Then there is Sophie, gorgeous, huge hearted, Sophie who looks like their mother, who made a brilliant marriage because she was and still is a well-known beauty.  And then there’s Hugh, whose eyes and hair color are not a match for his mother or siblings.  He’s serious, hurting over the loss of his career and disability and hiding his “unnatural” love of men. Hugh loves to fade into the background where he thinks he belongs. Trust me, Hugh will grab at your heart with all his awkwardness and serious demeanor.  I adored Hugh, even more so when fitted into his family’s framework ( I love his family as well).  Every character here is a marvel and necessary component to this story.

There is a mystery, well not so much of a mystery as I had the spy’s identity figured out.  This part of the story is the only place that I felt needs a little more construction and layers to it.  We build up to a reveal that never quite comes off as explosive or as dramatic as it could have been.  That said, this part also caused me to bawl like a baby over the pain it causes a a main character and the events that follow.  And yes, I love, loved the ending.  It was funny, believable and a HFN as it had to be while the war was still being waged.

I would love to see a return to this couple and England after the war.  What  happens to Lindsay and Hugh?  Does Sophie ever marry her rose-growing lord?  I need to know and hope there’s a sequel to follow.

A Minor Inconvenience is what is said when referring to the damage done to Hugh’s leg.  It’s just a “minor incovenience” , to all but Hugh who has to live with it.  How I love this story and I highly recommend it to all, not just the lovers of m/m historical romance but romance period.  I am going to search out more stories by Sarah Granger.  I’ll let you know what I find!

Cover Artist ?  I’m not sure who the cover artist is but they did a terrific job with the different uniforms and backdrop.

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing   All Romance (ARe)   Amazon   Buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 264 pages
Published January 14th 2014 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN 161921766X (ISBN13: 9781619217669)

A MelanieM Review: Red Dirt Heart 4 (Red Dirt Heart series finale) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Red Dirt Heart 4 coverThe minute Travis Craig saw the name Sutton Station on a list of places to apply to Travis just knew that was the place to go for his internship.  And once there, he realized he had found home.  It wasn’t just the harshly beautiful land and environment that called to Travis, but the owner, Charlie Sutton, himself.  Loving Charlie was easy even though the man was stubborn, and riddled with crippling self-doubt. No, for Travis, loving Charlie Sutton felt as natural as breathing.  But living with Charley? Teaching him how to love in return and, more importantly, how to love himself, was not.

But Travis knew all along it’d be worth it. He knew the man with the red dirt heart was destined to be his. Just like he knew the red dirt that surrounded him was where he was supposed to be.  With Charlie and Sutton Station, Travis knew he was home.   But there’s one more trip to take….that’s taking Charlie home to Texas to meet his folks and let them know the man who has come to mean everything to their son.

Red Dirt Heart 4 by N. R. Walker is the final story in this heartwarming, remarkable saga.  It only took the first book for Charlie Sutton, Travis Craig, Ma, George and all the rest that goes for family on Sutton Station to grab hold of my heart.  And with each book my love affair with this series deepened along with Charlie and Travis’ relationship and journey towards their HEA. We were there as Charlie’ dealt with all the doubts and fears that came with the damage his father inflicted upon his son.  We were silent observers as Charlie came to grips with his past and learned to love himself as well as Travis.  Along the way their story came to feel less a piece of fiction and more like desired visits with old friends.  Now its at a end and I’m feeling kind of bereft.  But what a send off N. R. Walker gave them.

For starters, Walker switched out the point of view.  The first three books are told from Charlie Sutton’s perspective.  By living in Charlie’s head and heart, we learned how hard it was for Charlie to accept himself and step out of his father’s shadow. We listened to his internal monologue, jumbled thoughts, stubborn feelings even as we learned that Travis loved to just to watch his Charlie, that Travis couldn’t sit still and was always busy, busy loving and moving Charlie along whether Charlie wanted to or not.  I got comfortable with the fact that it’s Charlie we would always have an intimate knowledge of and that Travis would always be seen and filtered through Charlie Sutton.  But that wasn’t the plan for the last story, Red Dirt Heart 4.

Red Dirt Heart 4 is Travis Craig’s story and the change up in pov was sort of disorienting at first.  I was used to Charlie’s “voice” and now had to see Charlie and everyone else through Travis’ eyes.  That was a little startling but after a while I realized that listening to Travis, visualizing everyone and everything through his thoughts and feelings, was necessary. It completes the picture.  As Charlie and Travis are two sides of the same coin (an important and touching element in this story), we needed Travis’ perspective to make their love and relationship whole.

Sutton Station and Charlie have been through so many changes and those continue to mount up.  Even as the farm is adjusting to having a baby around (not Charlie and Travis’) but other things are happening to shake up the status quo.  Charlie decides to help out some disadvantaged kids and Travis and Charlie travel to Texas for Thanksgiving and Charlie’s first meet up with Travis’ folks.  Each event acts like a seismic event, shaking the foundation of Charlie and Travis’ relationship in unexpected and quite wonderful ways.  I’m not going into details here that’s one of the joys of this book and series…all the little paths and journeys that Charlie and Travis must take to solidify their love affair for each other, their determination to stay together and make each other home.

N. R. Walker has such a way of creating characters that feel believably, poignantly human in every way.  Each character is realistically defined, densely layered complete person from dialog to actions, to their thoughts,feelings, frailties, and all.  Then N. R. Walker gives us Sutton Station and the hot, red dirt environment of the Northern Territory and makes us fall deeply love all over again.   I got Charlie’s almost cellular connection to the land and his farm, I came to understand how Travis could come to love a land both harsh and beautiful in the extreme.  N. R. Walker’s almost lyrical descriptions of the desert, complete with its dangers and extraordinarily stunning features made me see it as though it was right in front of me.  And it made this water loving, green hugging woman want to head out immediately to experience it for myself.  I got all that and so much more and I did so because of Charlie and Travis and Ma and George and even Matilda and Nugget.

The Red Dirt Heart series is as much a love letter to Walker’s home as it is a love story about Charlie and Travis.  I fell in love with all of this red dirt heart series, the land and the people.  It has become my comfort read and a wishful travelogue all at the same time.  N. R. Walker was one of my best discoveries in 2014.  Make her and her Red Dirt Heart series one of yours in 2015!  It’s absolutely one our most highly recommended books and series.  Pick them all up today, read them in the order they were written,  and see why!  Happy Reading.

Cover artist Sara York completes the branding of the series with this lovely cover and still incorporates necessary elements in this story.

Sales Links:   All Romance (ARe)     Amazon          Buy it here

Book Details:

Release Date: January 9th 2015 by Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
seriesRed Dirt #4

Books in the Series (yep just 1 through 4)

A MelanieM Review: Love is a Stranger (More Heat Than the Sun #1) by John Wiltshire

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Loving a total stranger can be very hard work sometimes.

Love is a Stranger coverEx-SAS soldier Ben Rider falls in love with his enigmatic married boss and secret lover Sir Nikolas Mikkelsen.  It was supposed to be only an affair of lust not of the heart.  Sir Nikolas Mikkelsen isn’t what he seems and one explosive event shatters the lie that Nikolas has been living. It’s a lie so profound that when the shadows are lifted, Ben realises he’s in love with a very dangerous stranger. Ben has to choose between Nikolas and safety, but sometimes danger comes in a very seductive package.

John Wiltshire’s Love Is A Stranger is a packed full, suspenseful tale of betrayal, danger, and lies.  The first story in Wiltshire’s More Heat Than The Sun series, it introduces us to the main players in this convoluted tale of secret identities and a struggle for love.  First there is Ben Rider, ex-soldier, cold, determined and fierce.  Ben is model gorgeous and black samba deadly.  He’s been having a supposedly “sex only” affair with his married,upper echelon boss, Sir Nikolas Mikkelsen.  A member of high society, at home in the fox hunting fields as well as the powerful political draw rooms, Nikolas draws Ben in with his intelligence, attractive body and a personality that seems to change with the light.    Wiltshire’s characters are layered, complex, and never exactly what you think they are,  each more Rubik’s Cube than solid persona.   Just when you (and Ben) think you have a handle on who and what Nikolas is and does, a bullet or something worse shatters that picture permanently.

I loved the myriad plot layers built into this story of suspense, love, and, yes, revenge.  Like Alice throwing herself down a warped rabbit hole, the twists and turns can’t be seen, only appreciated after the fact.  One fact is revealed or violent episode occurs, and you think, hmmm…I should have seen that one coming.  But you don’t.  And that immediately amps up the anticipation for the next turn or shock that is sure to come. This story is full of them, each better than the last.

Sexy?  Definitely.  Remember, this starts as an affair of lust not love, however, it ends up.  Only it doesn’t end.  In fact, this story has a bit of a cliffhanger.  Some or most might not be too happy about that but definitives in any aspect are not to be expected here.  Any foundations that exist under each man and their growing relationship is as fluid and safe as mercury.   The only sure thing is their love for that shaggy hound, Radulf, that was obtained from a shelter under dubious conditions.  I love Radulf and he helps to cement the idea that these two men might have any future between them as his addition helps to give an air of normality (perhaps the only one) to Nik and Ben.

I can’t get enough of this wild and dangerous couple and am moving on to the next stories in the series.  I hope you join me along with way.  If you love suspense and action/adventure to go along with your sexy men, this is the story and series for you.

Cover Artist: Michelle Cary.  It’s dark,  a little hard to see.  I wish there were more elements to it from the story itself. That would include the charismatic Radulf.

Sales Links:  MLR Press LLC       All Romance (ARe)       Amazon              Buy it here

Book Details:

ebook
Published 2014 by MLR Press LLC
original titleLove is a Stranger
ISBN 1020140242
edition languageEnglish
seriesMore Heat Than the Sun #1

Books in the Series:

  • Love is a Stranger (More Heat Than the Sun #1)
  • Conscious Decisions of the Heart (More Heat Than the Sun #2)
  • The Bridge of Silver Wings (More Heat Than the Sun, #3)
  • This Other Country (More Heat Than the Sun, #4)
  • The Bruise Black Sky (More Heat Than the Sun, #5) coming soon