A MelanieM Review: Winging It by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Gabriel “Banksy” Martin is living the life he has always wanted. A forward for the young hockey team, the Quebec City Nordiques, Gabe stays focused on his job and his team leaving him little time for anything else. And that includes the so so boyfriend he’s been seeing on the sly. Because nothing in his life says that Gabe wants to be the first out hockey player. What Gabe wants is a great season and to win the Stanley Cup…nothing more.

Teammate Dante Baltierra is young in almost every respect. Dante, aka Baller, is careless, reckless… shameless. He’s a known horn dog with a penchant for women and partying. But no one questions his dedication to the sport and Gabe can overlook a lot of young-and-stupid in the name of great hockey. Plus Dante has a superlative ass in a sport filled with superlative asses.

Gabe is determined to keep the attraction he feels building towards Dante buried deep but a jilted boyfriend and fate have other ideas. When a tabloid expose’ threatens not only Gabe’s career but the stability of the team, what happens in the aftermath is something Gabe never expected or could have hoped for…a love that just might last a lifetime.

The writing team of Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James has produced quite a few favorite stories of mine in the past. But it has been a while since I have read any of their novels and the reason escapes me because Winging It is a prime example why I adored their books to begin with. It’s simply terrific storytelling.

I love plots involving hockey players! I love the game (Caps fan here)! And I love the physique that years of playing hockey leaves these players with, heavily muscled legs and the well known “hockey ass”. Combine all that with romance and a fast played exciting game on ice, and well, I just melt. In Winging It, Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James deliver on all fronts.

Winging It is a superb look at the dynamics of a group of young players still trying to find itself as a team and play well. The Quebec City Nordiques actually existed once (and Kane hopes they will again). The Dekes stand out among all the other teams for a number of reasons. Their amazing coach? A woman. Their owner? A woman. Their formidable PR person? A woman. Kane and James brings this team vividly to life and no part of the organization is overlooked or made to feel less important to the plot and the team. I thought all the characters were just so well conceived and fleshed out that I was totally bought into the team and its run for the Stanley Cup.

The characters of Gabe “Banksy” Martin and Dante “Baller” Baltierra feel as real to me as the snow I see just outside my window. Boisterous, lively, intelligent and focused on the game, they never come across as anything less than authentic hockey players having the time of their lives. The authors are careful to include the long hours, the pain and muscle spasms, along with houses and condos that rarely see their owners because of the demands of the sport. We get the camaraderie that’s so important to helping a team gel as well as the conflict that can tear it apart. I mean really you can almost smell the stink of the locker room after a hard game, the descriptions are so on point.

And the romance, if you can call it that, so well done and believable. It did feel more like a hockey player’s idea of a romance and that’s fine by me. Because even the romance has so many aspects to it. It’s not just Gabe being out…it’s Baller looking at his sexuality. It’s not just what exposure means on a huge scale but what it means to have a ‘first meaningful” relationship at all. It’s watching these two navigate typical first love and relationship “stuff”, along with team and family dynamics. All while playing the season of a lifetime. Talk about sizzle!

Kane and Morgan set the bar high for themselves here and made it look easy. The narrative flows, the scenes are exciting and full of suspense, and the outcome for Gabe and Dante’s relationship and every game they play is always in question. We are never sure of anything in this story just as there are no sureties in the sport. Teams and teammates don’t remain the same, injuries happen, and sometimes a team just can’t catch a break. It’s all there, gripping and full of drama and excitement. Trust me when I say your attention is engaged from start to finish, along with your heart! Take all the elements at play here, the crowds, the teamwork, the plays, and the opposition and media, throw in romance and love. Stir vigorously and out flows Winging It, one of my highly recommended reads.

Oh, and be sure to read the forward and afterword by the authors. Its highlight is Kane’s introduction to the game of hockey and a wonderful summary of the teams now playing. I loved that too. Go, Caps! Rock the Red! And may the Nordiques come back, if not an actual team once more, then at least in another story by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James. Pretty please? With hockey pucks?

Cover art by Paul Richmond. People either love or dislike this type of rough cover. I thought it worked in the sort of stylized way because Im not sure any model could have “stood in” for Gabe or Dante (or their bodies). For examples, check out the Tumblr blog “Hockey Asses”. You’ll thank me.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 300 pages
Expected publication: February 20th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781632166173
edition languageEnglish
url http://ashlynkane.blogspot.com

A MelanieM Review: Quinn’s Gambit by Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

An unregistered, human con wizard and a duty-bound, straightlaced elf cop. As New York explodes with dangerous creatures, their passion goes nuclear.

After a terrible magical accident at Berkeley created unpredictable holes between realities—all manner of non-human creatures started popping into our world. From selkies to trolls, elves to Sasquatches, all the magical creatures needed help because their was no returning them to their world or families. These magical events are called RARE—Random Anomalous Reality Events. And they have made magic now a reality, pulling it out of fiction and relocated it firmly in reality.

The result was a great deal of chaos, pain, anger, and confusion. Displaced elf Valerian works with AURA—the Agency of Unnatural Resettlement and Assimilation—to intercept these beings as they appear in the human world, helping the peaceful ones and subduing the violent, malevolent ones. It’s good, satisfying work, and Val would be happy if he wasn’t so lonely.

Quinten is a young human just trying to get by. But Quintan has a background awash in pain and betrayal and isn’t about to put his trust in any establishment, an attitude that makes New York City a difficult place to make a living. A bit of a con with a fluid moraltiy, still Quinten has a good heart if also one that’s kept under lock and key.

Living by his wits and sometimes magically-induced luck, he works as a ‘free-lance magic user’, or unregistered mage and small time con—according to the authorities. The last thing Quinn wants is to draw the cops’ attention, but when an Event happens right on top of him, he’s forced to turn to AURA for help. And that means an introduction to Val and the very agency Quinten has been trying to avoid.

But darker events are looming over all mage users and its’ up to Val, Quinten and a small group of friends (or almost friends) to stop the evil existing in their midsts.

Already a huge fan of Angel Martinez and her fantasy worlds, now I’m going to add Bellora Quinn to my list! Quinn’s Gambit, the first in a new Aura series, pulled me in by the first paragraph and kept me enthralled until the very last word. All of the characters the reader will meet inside Quinn’s Gambit are so beautifully realized! It really doesn’t matter who the character it, whether its Val, the elf prince, Kai, a drow and IT specialist and his lover Tensin a Yeti, or Sin aka Sinistrus a unlucky succubus who prefers men instead of the females he needs to feed on. One after another, a whole cast of bewitching characters appear to capture your heart and make you care about the tumultuous situation and universe they find themselves in.

The authors leave the origin of the blast and the experiment performed somewhat murky. All we know is that now holes in the fabric of the universe is allowing beings from other levels or plains of existence to fall through, permanently, into this one. Just from the mention of a selkie who committed suicide when she fell shockingly to ground in a desert in southwestern United States, and the reader gets it. These poor beings have been ripped without warning from their worlds and loved ones, and the authors make us feel their continued pain and confusion. Valerian lives with the constant pain of loss and we hurt for him because the cost to him and the others falls within the spectrum of loss we can well imagine.

Quinten is another special character. His background is slowly revealed to all in the story and once known, explains his living and working circumstances as well as the wall he has created around his heart. I think there is still so much more to be divulged about Quinn. There is an enormity to him and his powers that the authors are just starting to explore. Quinn is a puzzle and we still don’t have all the pieces to this compelling young man when we reach the end of this story. I can’t wait to see what else will come.

Quinn’s Gambit contains several mysteries, a ton of heartbreaking dramas, and, of course, a romance to begin and solidify between Quinn and Val. The writing is tight, the imaginative elements splendid and engrossing, and the heat that occurs between Quinn and Val so hot and sexy its almost combustible. The only place that I wanted more was the ending. I wanted it to be fuller, longer, and with more exposition to the scenes there. Yes, I wanted the “cherry on the top, with sprinkles”! Lucky for us all, Quinn’s Gambit is but the first in a new series, Aura, from Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn. I. Can’t. Wait!

Pick up Quinn’s Gambit (AURA Series #1) by Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn and begin your journey within this amazing new universe. It’s one of my favorite, highly recommended reads this month, perhaps of the year.

Cover artist Posh Gosh does a great job with the New York City skyline and Quinn. Terrific job.

Sales Links: Totally Bound Amazon Buy It Here links to come

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: March 6th 2015 by Totally Bound
ISBN139781784304423
edition languageEnglish
url https://www.totallybound.com/
seriesAURA Series #1

A MelanieM Review: Shadows and Ash (Pulp Friction 2014 Finale) by Laura Harner , Lee Brazil , Havan Fellows , T.A. Webb

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Nestled in the forest surrounding Flagstaff, Arizona, Mountain Shadows offers residents and guests a home and refuge. A year ago, the isolated retreat, with its log cabins and stone lodge, could boast a convalescing new owner, one employee, two long-term tenants, and an uncertain future. As others joined the rag-tag collection and made the hideaway their home, tentative beginnings morphed into friendships…and finally into a family of sorts.

Over this past year, the perfect place for hiding became a sanctuary for healing, as one-by-one the residents discovered that learning to live in the light with a family you choose is better than shrouding yourself in loneliness. But just as everyone seems to settle into a new normal, shadows from the past drag one of their members back into the darkness and the fallout threatens their carefully constructed new beginnings.

Now, the family they’ve created there must band together to protect each other from someone determined to destroy the lives they’ve worked so hard to reclaim.

Pulp Friction 2014. Four authors. Twenty-four books. One fiery finale.

The time has come once more to say goodbye to another fantastic Pulp Friction Series and to say these authors did it with flare, heat and hot sexy men goes without question. I’m always amazed at how four authors are able to mesh eight (sometimes nine) characters, four couples stories, and still maintain a balanced whole in terms of plot and characterizations. Yet, for the second year, the Pulp Friction gang has done it again. Pulp Friction 2014 was the Elemental Connections year. It had Laura Harner’s Fighting Fire, Lee Brazil’s In From the Cold, Havan Fellow’s Whispering Winds and T. A. Webb’s Earthquake series, with a wonderful conglomeration of characters, romances, and heartbreaking suspense. And it all took place on top of a mountain outside of Flagstaff, Arizona.

Even now its hard to say which characters I love the most, they are so varied and had so many different paths to HEA this series. Certainly Rowen Smith with his long black hair, deep connection to the woods around him and dark past,is close to the top. He just resonated with me as did his eventual lover, Mick Rutger, who went from the human equivalent of a Golden Retriever to something older, wiser, and more substantial. How I loved them both (thank you, Havan Fellows).

But I can no more say that then Charlie Turner and Amos Greene pop into mind (thank you, Tom Webb). Their journey towards happiness contained stark terror, abject pain, and astonishing revelations. Webb kept me in tears and in the dark for long periods of time during the slow roll out of his Earthquake stories. You never knew if monster or angel would be around the corner for these two along with Charlie’s brother Damon (loved him too). Sometimes the heartbreak comes from the last person you would expect, another theme that runs through all the stories here.

Brazil’s Professor of Literature Finn Lorensson and Dr. Cannon Malloy (originally from FR2013, thank you, Lee Brazil) were sometimes the hardest personalities for me to get a grasp on. Finn, a gorgeous hulk of a man had a deep need to rescue others, even at the cost to himself and his relationships. Cannon? To say he started off self absorbed, fearful and more than a little damaged by the events in Atlanta would be like calling coal black. It goes without saying that Finn was smitten immediately, but Cannon? Not so much. During much of the series their tentative relationship acted more like Dr. Doolittle’s pushmi-pullyu. They were joined together but never quite going (or facing) the same direction. I loved that Cannon finally learned to embrace his sexuality (with a little eyeliner and flare) and accept Finn with all that entailed.

Finally there is Laura Harner’s former firefighter Scott McGregor reuniting with his college lover,Robby Hammond, at Scott’s hospital bed. A wildfire that ends Scott’s career and costs the life of most of his team is also what brings Scott’s only love back to him. Harner made us believe in their tortured past so the reader easily invests in these damaged men and any potential hope for a future together. So much trauma involved here, Scott’s PTSD, his injuries and loss of career, survivor’s guilt and yes, more secrets from his and Robby’s past pushing hard to come out. Plus its Scott’s Mountain Shadows Campground that acts as the heart and location for all these stories to unfold. I came to love Mountain Shadows just as much as its residents did. If there was a heart and center of all the couples it was Scott and Robby. They are the beginning of a new family and I loved them dearly (thank you, Laura Harner).

The penultimate stories in each series came with a certain amount of personal (or physical) explosions and exposition leading up to this. A mystery of who was behind all the arson and attacks happening at the campgrounds had to be solved, along with more than a few personal demons still to be put to rest, including Scott being blamed for the fires himself. How did it all turn out? Splendidly!

It’s hard seeing this group of stories come to an end. I wasn’t ready. But all the characters pull their dramatic weight in the last story. Each author gives their couple the right amount of “time on stage” to tie up loose ends and push them forward. I did wish that one little aspect, a total villain dies in a manner that didn’t feel as solid as the other revelations that surfaced here. That was the only bit of weakness that I could see. Everything else felt believable, rational, and happily fulfilling for all.

Am I going to go into details? No, absolutely not. Even the smallest of facts can lead to large spoilers, so don’t go looking for them here. Instead if you are new to the Pulp Friction gang, what joys await you. You have not one but two years of interconnected series to catch up on. The first took place in Atlanta GA, the second (Elemental Connections) in Flagstaff, AZ, and the third? This years Pulp Friction 2015 is a group of supernatural tales taking place in New Orleans in Harner and Webb’s Altered States universe. What’s that, you say? Well stay tuned as next week, all the Pulp Friction gang will be here to talk finale, Altered States, and the new stories starting to arrive.

For those of you who have been gobbling up these stories as quickly as they come out, you will love this series finale! It’s hot, suspenseful, a little scary and wonderfully over the top…of the mountain, that is. I loved it and think you will too. Grab it up and get prepared for the supernatural goings on in New Orleans. I’m through the first story already and it’s a doozy!

Cover art by Laura Harner is perfect. It still brands the series with the logo and the coloring and graphics are perfect for the series finale and title.

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

Book Details:

ebook
Published January 14th 2015 by Hot Corner Press
ISBN139781937252977
edition languageEnglish

About Pulp Friction 2014 – All stories are reviewed here at STRW.

Pulp Friction 2014 Authors: Laura Harner ~ Lee Brazil ~ Havan Fellows ~ T.A. Webb
The Pulp Friction 2014 Collection. Four authors. Four Series. Twenty books. One fiery finale. Spend a year with an eclectic group of strangers brought together through circumstances, as they are tested by life, and emerge as more than friends.
The strongest bonds are forged by fire, cooled in air, smoothed by water, grounded in earth.

Although each series can stand alone, we believe reading the books in the order they are released will increase your enjoyment. The Pulp Friction 2014 series in the order they were written and should be read to understand the characters, events and plot:

Round One:
Firestorm (Fighting Fire: 1)by Laura Harner
Cold Snap (In From the Cold: 1) by Lee Brazil
Blown Away (Whispering Winds: 1) by Havan Fellows
Higher Ground (Earthquake: 1) by TA Webb

Round Two:
Controlled Burn (Fighting Fire #2) by Laura Harner
Cold Comfort (In From the Cold #2) by Lee Brazil
Blown Kisses (Whispering Winds #2) by Havan Fellows
Moving Earth (Earthquake #2) by TA Webb

Round Three:
Backburn (Fighting Fire #3) by Laura Harner
Cold Feet (In From the Cold #3) by Lee Brazil
Blown Hard (Whispering Winds #3) by Havan Fellows
Tremors (Earthquake #3) by T.A. Webb

Round Four:
Flare-up (Fighting Fire #4) by Laura Harner
Out In The Cold (In From the Cold #4) by Lee Brazil
Blown Chance (Whispering Winds #4) by Havan Fellows
Aftershocks (Earthquake #4) by T.A. Webb

Round Five:
Radiant Burn (Fighting Fire #5) by Laura Harner
Cold Day in Hell (In From the Cold #5) by Lee Brazil
Final Blow (Whispering Winds #5) by Havan Fellows
Terra Firma (Earthquake #5) by T.A. Webb

Sixth Book Series Finale Written by all the Authors coming in December.
Shadows and Ash (Pulp Friction 2014 Finale)

Side Stories or Interludes:

Taking Chances by Lee Brazil (a In From the Cold story)
Wicked Winds (Whispering Winds 3.5) by Havan Fellows – bonus book, Whispering Winds
Frankie’s Knight (Elemental Connections: IV) (Earthquake #3.5)
Kismet & Cartwheels – bonus book, Fighting Fire

A MelanieM Review: Kimo & Mike (Storming Love: Blizzard #2) by Neil S. Plakcy

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Former competitive surfer and Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is in his element in his home state of Hawaii. However, his partner, fire investigator Mike Riccardi, wants to head to the mainland for a ski trip and reunion with some old buddies of his. As a bitter storm rages outside the condo where they’re staying, one of Mike’s college buddies is feuding with his wife and the other is making sexy overtures to Kimo. Will these tensions ruin the vacation and perhaps even drive a wedge between Kimo and Mike?

Just those words Kimo and Mike, ok just Kimo, can make my heart flutter! I have been in love with Kimo Kanapa’aka when I first met him in Neil S. Plakcy’s Natural Predators (Mahu #7) and started working my way back to the beginning of the series. And with each story I fell deeper and deeper in love with this complicated, nuanced man. Kimo is Hawaiian not just by blood but in the depth of his feelings and emotions. He has a large, extended family he interacts with daily, sometimes hourly depending upon the situation at hand. Hawaii is at his center, it’s his heart and in a sense his stability. Kimo heads into the surf when things get too painful or complicated, needing that to bring him peace and refocus him once more.

But here, Neil S. Plakcy removes Kimo from his safety zone and support system and takes him into the cold mountains in the mainland. In Kimo and Mike, the plot isolates Kimo and Mike from all but their vacation companions due to blizzard conditions. Between the cold, Kimo’s inability to ski (which also removes him from the group), and the stressful couples they are with, things start to get shaky immediately.

I am such a Kimo fan that nothing can detract from any story he is a part of. But for readers new to Kimo and Mike, this short story conveys none of the enormous hurdles and obstacles (many of their own making) they had to overcome to become the couple they are when this story opens. It happened over a number of books, not scenes and their relationship was borne out of enormous pain and anguish each caused the other. Each man is gorgeous in his own multiracial way and people are always hitting on them but never with the history (ok almost never) of one of the couples here. Plus the stress is pushed to overload when the couples disagreements turn physical and Mike and Kimo must balance their professions with their partner’s needs.

This story ended too quickly for me. Of course, I feel that way about all Kimo Kanapa’aka and his Mahu stories (Mahu is Hawaiian for homosexual). This will give you just enough of a taste of this tantalizing couple to want more and send you to the first story Mahu (Mahu #1). It’s a swift read yet it is sturdy in plot and strong in characterizations. Add it to your TBR list today along with the other Storming Love: Blizzard stories. If I was the type to say I ♥heart this book, well, then this is where it would happen. I ♥ this book! Normally I wouldn’t do that. See what Neil S. Plakcy and Kimo make me do?

Cover artist: Kris Jacen does a nice job of branding the series although I could wish for a little more individualization as far as the couples go.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 35 pages
Published January 30th 2015 by MLR Press
ISBN13MLR1020140367
seriesStorming Love: Blizzard #2

Books in the Storming Love: Blizzard series are:

Jens & Elliot (Storming Love: Blizzard #1)
Kimo & Mike (Storming Love: Blizzard #2)
Seth and Casey (Storming Love, Blizzard #3)
Layne, River & Damion (Storming Love: Blizzard #4) by Vicktor Alexander (release date: 2/13/15)
Gavin & Morgan (Storming Love: Blizzard #5) by Nicole Dennis (release date: 2/20/15)
Stokes & Ford (Storming Love: Blizzard #6) by Jackie Nacht (release date: 2/27/15)

A MelanieM Review: Seth and Casey (Storming Love: Blizzard #3) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Seth Wild is a fire fighter who has lost everything when a building collapsed on him during a rescue, a rescue that went wrong. Seth’s inability to handle his PTSD, his injuries and his refusal of help from anyone, including his partner Casey, cost him their relationship and their home together.

Casey, a school teacher, is on a field trip that his partner promised to help him conduct and chaperone…until a fire and Seth’s injury caused everything to fall apart. Casey had hoped to try and reach Seth once more while out in the woods with the kids but Seth is a no show.

Then a freak storm puts Casey and Seth on a collision with each other and their future when Casey and the children are stranded in the blizzard and Seth is their only hope. Seth is the last fire fighter left in town with his bum leg but when Casey calls for help he doesn’t hesitate. Seth always promised he would be Casey’s hero, but will he ever again be Casey’s love?

Seth and Casey is a wonderful story that easily could be enlarged to encompass Seth and Casey’s back history and romance. As it is, RJ Scott moves the reader easily into the present day with an embittered Seth living alone in the house he shared with Casey and still refusing to accept any help with his recuperation or PTSD. Most of the story unfolds from Seth’s point of view as the storm moves into the area and the flakes start to fall.

I loved how Scott shows us how out of touch Seth is with everyone around him. The station house has been emptied because of accidents caused by the historic storm and the only person left behind is a scared rookie. But Seth appears oblivious to the storm’s approach or the magnitude of the blizzard, something everyone else knows of because of news reports and being a part of the community. Slowly Seth is jolted back to awareness as first he notices the number of missed phone calls from Casey he has gotten and then the trouble he is having navigating sidewalks and roads on his way to the fire station. His bad leg is making his journey slow and awkward but that’s nothing to what he will face once Seth enters the firehouse.

Scott builds the suspense and drama with all the pace of a fast approaching snowstorm. First just some flakes appear, then more and finally whiteout conditions, both in Seth’s emotions and the situation that Casey and the children find themselves in. And the scarier the storm gets the deeper and more gripping does the precarious situation become. If Seth is to win out, he must navigate the obstacles around him, from the physical to the barriers he has raised in his own heart. I loved Seth and Casey, rooting for them and their relationship every hard won step of the way.

This was the first story I read in the Storming Love: Blizzard collection and if the others are like it, I can wait to grab them all up. Pick up RJ Scott’s Seth and Casey as they make their way back to HEA! I am on my way to Kimo and Mike! Meet you there! A highly recommended read!

Cover Artist Kris Jacen

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

Book Details:

ebook
Published February 6th 2015 by MLR
Buy All the Rest at MLR Books
seriesStorming Love: Blizzard #3

Books in the Storming Love: Blizzard series are:

Jens & Elliot (Storming Love: Blizzard #1)
Kimo & Mike (Storming Love: Blizzard #2)
Seth and Casey (Storming Love, Blizzard #3)
Layne, River & Damion (Storming Love: Blizzard #4) by Vicktor Alexander (release date: 2/13/15)
Gavin & Morgan (Storming Love: Blizzard #5) by Nicole Dennis (release date: 2/20/15)
Stokes & Ford (Storming Love: Blizzard #6) by Jackie Nacht (release date: 2/27/15)

A MelanieM Review: Creature Comfort by Rob Rosen

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Three 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: My Cowboy Homecoming (The Cowboys #3) by Z.A. Maxfield

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Love can heal the deepest wounds…

The death of a brother and a father in prison bring a soldier home. Sgt. Calvin Tripplehorn had every intention of making the army his career and never returning home. But duty and obligation calls when he receives notice that his brother has died, leaving his mother unable to cope. However, returning home brings up all the old problems and issues that sent Tripp into the Army in the first place.

Tripp hates returning to his New Mexican home, a place where the name Tripplehorn means hate, pain, and general ill will, mostly due to his crazy father who burned people’s homes and businesses to the ground and destroyed lives all around him. It doesn’t help that one of the people who picks him up at the airport is gorgeous and flirty…that is until Tripp’s last name is mentioned.

Cowboy Lucho Reyes is returning to work at the J-Bar Ranch after an injury sent him to the town’s clinic. On the way back they pick up a soldier returning home and Lucho thinks the gorgeous vet is everything he has been looking for. Until he hears the soldier’s name. Tripplehorn. The family of drug dealing bigots who burned his family’s restaurant to the ground causing the death of the his grandfather. He hates the Tripplehorns, they are nothing but trouble. But there’s something different about Calvin.

In need of employment, Tripp is hired at the J-Bar Ranch, a dream he had as a child and now the home of a man Tripp finds irresistable, if only Lucho will give him a chance to prove he’s not his father’s son.

My Cowboy Homecoming is the third book in Z. A. Maxfield’s The Cowboys series. And while it was the first I have read of the three books published, My Cowboy Homecoming was so endearing and enjoyable that it will send me back to read the first two stories to see what I have missed.

Having started here at the third book, I liked that I didn’t feel that I was lacking anything as far as background or information. Z. A. Maxfield nicely filled in all the important details from the previous stories and series foundation, so I was able to read and delve into the plot as it unfolded without feeling there were gaps missing in everyone’s back history.

There is so much to love here starting with the J-Bar Ranch itself, owned and operated by a gay couple, Speed Malloy and Crispin Carrasco, and another gay pairing, Jimmy Rafferty and Eddie as ranch hands. It’s truly a different sort of place, complete with three-legged dogs and rescue horses in need of therapy and retraining. That’s where Lucho’s injury comes in, while trying to help a newly arrived abused horse. Element upon delightful element is added to help add dimension and realism to a story that has go much heart and pain packed into it.

The beginning is simple enough. A soldier arrives home after leaving the service so he can help out his family. But what follows is anything but simple.

Tripp is arriving home to see his mother, his brother has died, his father in prison and there is no one at the airport to welcome him or pick him up. Immediately the atmosphere changes into something dark. He’s picked up by two ranch hands from the J-Bar as a favor but what starts off as a welcome helping hand turns bitter as soon as Tripp’s name is revealed. From then on out, Z.A. Maxfield’s cowboy drama rolls out a series of past abuses and terrors delivered by the Tripplehorn men (Tripp excluded) upon the community.

It’s a horrific little journey into everyone’s past, including Lucho’s, and we start to see two different perspective on Tripp’s family and the dynamics that caused Tripp to flee into the Army. Maxfield doesn’t dump all the pain and angst on the reader at once, instead it is doled out, the facts and emotions building up to a painful picture of an abusive, racist father who did his best to control his brood and wife and is still trying to do so from his prison cell.

Tripp’s mother is a character most if not all readers will love to hate. Her weakness is frustrating, her actions lamentable, and her inability to act on her own behalf or her son’s removes most of the compassion a reader is inclined to award her. Men are her backbone and she has found another support system in her husband’s sleazy lawyer. I think most of the reader’s frustration will stem from Tripp’s actions towards his mother. A war seasoned veteran who turns so passive and ineffectual when it comes to interacting with his past and his mother. This section of the story could easily turn off the reader if the author had not done such a great job in laying the foundation for this mother/son dynamic and using it for further actions down the road. Great job all around.

The highlight of this story, of course, is the hot, sexy and actually sweet romance that springs up between Lucho and Tripp. It’s one tough road to romance for both men, and the joy and heart of this story is watching them fall into love and work hard to make their relationship work. It will involve Lucho’s family, one abused horse, and the support of those around them at the J-Bar Ranch. Maxfield brought the characters from the previous stories (Malloy and Crispin, Jimmy and Eddie) into My Homecoming Cowboy so I am hopeful that any future stories will bring us up to date on Lucho and Tripp’ relationship. Plus I want to know if Crispin succeeds in bringing ostriches onto the ranch!

Did I love this story? You betcha! Tripp and Lucho were so easy to take to heart and from the small interactions I saw between the other characters were enough to make me want to know their stories as well.

If you love your cowboys and romance, this is the story for you. It’s probably even the series for you. It has drama, angst, romance and animals whose characters are as quirky and endearing as the people they live with! It’s one of my recommended reads!

Cover artist did a great job. I love this cover.

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

Book Details:

ebook, InterMix eBook, 272 pages
Published December 2014 by Penguin Group (USA) LLC
ISBN139780698175020
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Cowboys #3

A MelanieM Review: Getting It Right (Restoration #1) by A.M. Arthur

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Detective Nathan Wolf’s work is his life. At age 34, Nathan has only a series of failed relationships with women behind him. Why? Because he’s afraid of his feelings about his best friend James and what they might mean.

Dr. James Taggert has two distinctly separate lives. One during the day as a psychiatrist who specializes in abuse cases. The other a night time party-animal known for his drinking and casual hookups. As Tag, he’s the guy in the gay clubs who screws them, leaves them, and never looks back. But James’s drinking is getting heavier, and when bad memories from the past resurface, he’s close to becoming the worst version of himself.

After a drunken blackout ends in a hot and heavy make-out session with his very straight best friend, James has no memory of the steamy affair. But Nathan isn’t sorry for the kisses that James can’t remember. Nathan finally musters the courage to tell James how he really feels, but a life-altering event might force them apart before they can ever be together.

When it comes to angst on overload, A. M. Arthur’s got it down pat! In Getting It Right (Restoration #1), we have two main characters who between them have a whole host of issues and problems, including substance abuse. Tag, aka Dr. James Taggert, is a character flowing over from Arthur’s Stand By You (Belonging #3), a scene from that story which is repeated here from another perspective. James’ close friend is also someone he has loved “forever” but believes is straight. That would be his buddy, police officer Nathan Wolf. One drunken night, at least for James, finds the two sharing a kiss. But that moment is hidden by Nathan’s lying about the events of that night, letting James think it was a dream.

This issue of miscommunication and outright deception looms over everything that happens to these two men. James Taggert is a prime example of that old adage “physician, heal thyself”. Outside of work his communication skills are almost nil, and his drinking is a problem obvious to all except himself. I found Arthur’s treatment of an alcoholic in denial especially effective. James has a long pattern of soaking himself in alcohol, no matter the reason or moment. But call himself someone with a substance abuse problem? Nope, he’s not going there, even if there is a niggling little voice in his head that recounts his past turbulent family history.

Nathan seems relatively drama free. At first. But this is an A. M. Arthur story and that means plenty of trauma and dramatic events to come. Without heading into spoiler territory, let’s just say there’s a whole lot of pain heading his way. Again, its well written and the aftermath is believable, hurtful, and again Arthur makes it easy for the reader to connect with Nathan’s anger and damage. In fact, I found both characters to be relatable, well drawn and vulnerable, especially with their histories.

So, why did I find myself not totally connecting with this story?

After much thought I think it comes back to the issue of characters so overloaded with pain, trauma and personal problems that the romance got lost amidst the drama. There is so much for each character to deal with, that overlaying it all with the miscommunication and sometime outright lies between these two (as they work towards a romance and relationship), well, it just seemed to me too much stuffed into one story. Something, in this case, their love story, was cast into the background.

While that was it should be given what James and Nathan area dealing with, it also served to disconnect me somewhat from their story, at least that part of it. The angst felt unrelenting (elements that were realistically handled) and it bogged the story down, at least for me.

For fans of A.M. Arthur, none of the issues that bothered me will be a problem for you. Hey, it’s A.M. Arthur after all, and I have long suspected that A in the author’s name stands for Angst! But for me? I needed a little more lightness, or laughter to balance out the woe and this was just too heavy on the woe!

I wonder who will be popping up next in the second story in this Restoration trilogy. Stay tuned, with a little break, I will head back to A.M. Arthur’s world and find out. Meet me here!

Cover artist? Not sure but that cover feels at little generic, could be any story out there. Where are the elements that tell you what Getting It Right is all about? Sigh.

Sales Links: Carina Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It here

Book Details

ebook
Expected publication: March 16th 2015 by Carina Press
ISBN139781426899577
edition languageEnglish
seriesRestoration #1

A MelanieM Review: Right Here Waiting by K. E. Belledonne

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Author’s synopsis:

In 1942, Ben Williams had it all – a fulfilling job, adoring friends and the love of his life, Pete Montgomery.

But World War II looms over them. When Pete follows his conscience and joins the Army Air Force as a bomber pilot, Ben must find the strength to stay behind without the love of his life, the dedication to stay true and the courage he never knew he’d need to discover his own place in the war effort.

Good friends help keep him afloat, until a chance meeting on the home front brings him an unexpected ally—one who will accompany him from the stages of New York City to the hell of the European warfront in search of his love.

Written in the style of a 1940s film, Right Here Waiting is an homage to classic wartime romances from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Right Here Waiting by K. E. Belledonne is a first novel (as far as I can tell) by this author. I have used their blurb and note to highlight one of my issues with this novel. Supposedly written in the overly dramatic style of a 1940’s screenplay, this story suffers from some of the same excess that those movies and screenplays exhibited, to the occasional detriment of what was an otherwise terrific story.

That’s not to say that I didn’t love parts of this book, because I did. Some sections and elements had me in tears they were so well done. But I had to wade through some not so fabulous scenes, elements, and dialog to get there. Let’s take a closer look.

First of all, I admire Belledonne’s taking up the challenge of not only writing a historical romance but one written in a particular style. Double the challenge, double the courage, double the way a story could fall short. Historical fiction is one of the hardest things in the world to get right, doubly so (again) to do it in your first novel. The author must be able to fold those historic elements from the era they have chosen into their story in such a way that its not an information dump. Instead those pieces of history must be subtly fitted into the plot in such a way that the reader absorbs the information as a natural part of the narrative.. What the author shouldn’t do is make a reader feel as though they have been whapped over the head by historical “things” throughout the story. Pointing out that Ben’s large wooden radio with its glass tubes warming up is a little too explanatory. Ben would have simply turned on the radio, not been aware of the cabinetry or other elements, rickety table included. For me, it felt that everything had one or two or three more adjectives than was necessary (here and throughout the story) in hopes to make everything seem more authentic. This included, unfortunately, people talking about doodlebugs, robot bombs and buzzing when all around are screaming and dying. Falling bombs are killing people and destroying everything around them. What type of bomb is probably the last thing anyone would care about. Sigh. The author goes overboard in trying to make the reader see every historical detail she has researched and included. And that bogs down the emotional flow of the story. And yes, this is a pet peeve of mine, if you couldn’t already tell.

And then there is the dialog, at least the dialog from the “civilian” scenes. At one point Ben reminds Peter to “stay hydrated”, something I’m not sure they would have said in the 40’s. Plus there’s an awful lot of weeping going on (not that men can’t cry, far from it), no, more that its done in the overly dramatic manner you might expect from a 40’s drama and damsel in distress. The situation was poignant enough and didn’t need that embellishment (that’s what it felt like) for the reader to find it powerful.

Now on to what I loved. The war scenes. Once Belledonne whisks her characters away from New York City and into the various locations of WWII, then this story starts to come alive. Pete’s squadron and their camaraderie is wonderful. I felt like I became intimately acquainted with these men, their aircraft and their stories. I cared about them and their questionable survival up in the air against the enemy. Ben too solidified into someone I truly liked and committed to once he became a part of a sort of USO traveling show. His relationship with the effervescent and fabulous Gwen Andrews (how I loved this character) vibrated with life and energy! They were fun, snarky, real, and you felt in the moment with them and the rest of the show troopers. The same goes for Ginger, a good friend of Pete and Ben’s back home, who went to war with Pete as a nurse. Their relationship felt as though they were truly old, close friends and their dialog and scenes not only reflected that but made us believe in it as well.

Looking back, I wish that a great editor had made one or two more passes over this manuscript, that could have solved most of the issues that I felt kept this from being a 5 star story. Belledonne can right some fantastically believable relationships, her dialog can snap with verve, and her scenes make you sob or laugh depending upon the situation. And I appreciate the chances she took in her style of writing and era. From looking at her website, it’s clear that the 40’s hold a special place in her heart so I hope she will continue to put her own touch on M/M historic fiction. I look forward to seeing what new stories K. E. Belledonne will give us.

I do recommend this story, not every issue that bothered me will bother another reader. Pick it up and decide for yourself.

Cover Artist Colleen, cover design by buckeyegrrl. What a gorgeous cover. Perfect in style and content, its definitely one of my favorites this year.

Sales Links: Interlude Press Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Published February 10th 2015 by Interlude Press
original titleRight Here Waiting
ISBN 1941530281 (ISBN13: 9781941530283)
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.

In 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

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

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