Tag: A MelanieM Review

A MelanieM Review: Bayou des Enfants (Rougaroux Social Club #4) by Lynn Lorenz

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Bayou Enfants coverA year has passed since Scott Dupree took Ted Canedo as his mate and assumed leadership of the St. Jerome pack.  They’ve moved in together into Scott’s house near the bayou, Ted’s private detective business is slowly getting off the ground as is Ted’s career as an artist.  Scott’s police department is solidly behind Scott so what could go wrong?

That would be Scott’s mother, Darlene Dupree. She’s not happy because she wants grandkids and she wants them now.  As she usually does, Maman, (as Scott and Ted call her) takes matters into her own hands.  A little spell or two in the middle of the night next to the bayou and Maman’s magic sets events in motion that has profound ramifications for all in the bayou.

What happens when two boys are suddenly in need of a home and parents?  Especially when Ted isn’t even sure kids are something he wants?  It’s chaos when change is forced upon everyone with just one accident.  Ted and Scott have a chance to become not just partners but parents and a family, if only they and everyone else can agree!

I have loved this series from Lynn Lorenz from the first story, Bayou Dreams (Rougaroux Social Club, #1).  It was a clever tweak by Lorenz that had Scott’s wolf being attracted to Ted before Scott was.  And throughout the story we watched as Ted tried to overcome his fear of involvement with a man who had been “straight” as well as Scott trying to adjust his ideas of sexuality to the needs of his wolf which soon becomes the needs of the man.  Plus there was the whole “and I’m a werewolf” thing to adjust to as well as a magical spell throwing Mama to contend with.  I fell in love with every bit of characterization and plot that Lorenz threw at me and then some.  And I have followed the series gleefully ever since, through three stories to arrive here at what is possibly the last story in the series, Bayou des Enfants.

Maman has been a strong character in every story and usually the impetus for events and relationship explosions that happen along the way.  See, Maman wants what she wants and uses magic to do it but her spells never go as planned, veering off onto another unexpected wild path to the end she wants and asked for.  I adore Maman and her raggedly black cat, she is straight out of the bayou, with a complicated religious outlook and dialog that rises right out of the swampy waters near her home.  One thing Maman has always wanted was first for Scott to get married (check, although not the way she planned) and now she wants grandchildren.  And yes, that doesn’t occur the way she wants either.  It never does.

The children that arrive at Scott and Ted’s home feel so real.  They are hurt, grieving, and troubled, well, at least one is troubled and more than a “handful” as they say.  Lorenz makes these children so believable and vulnerable that the reader becomes invested in their safety and future almost immediately.  Also just as authentic is the community’s reactions to a gay couple wanting children and the CPS involvement in everything that occurs.  While there was not be as much action as in the past stories here, the emotional adjustments that have to go on and the shifting of attitudes that must take place come so cautiously and slow that the suspense is enough to pull us in and keep our attention firmly focused on the people and events happening.

Did I love the ending? Absolutely.  I have been meaning to ask Lynn Lorenz if this is it for St. Jerome, Ted, Scott, Maman and all the rest.  I hope not.  I want many more tales to come just as surely Maman has more spells to cast to shake up any community.  Here’s hoping for more Rougaroux Bayou stories in the future.

If you are new to this series,  they really should be read in the order they were written.  Otherwise some of the people, events and relationship developments must not make sense.  I highly recommend this series to all lovers of romance, wolf shifters, and the bayou setting of Louisiana!

 

Cover Artist April Martinez has done a good job in branding the series with her covers, they belong together as a group.  I just wished the setting had a little larger place somewhere in the design.  It just doesn’t convey much about the story inside.

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

Book Details:

ebook
Published November 25th 2014 by Loose Id (first published November 24th 2014)
original titleBayou des Enfants
edition languageEnglish
seriesRougaroux Social Club #4

Rougaroux Social Club Series in the order they were written and should be read:

 

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: Fair Play (All’s Fair #2) by Josh Lanyon

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Fair Play coverRoland Mills, father of ex-FBI agent Elliot Mills, has always been an activist, extremely liberal in his views and actions. Fifty years ago, Roland belonged to a violent protest group and now, when Roland is about to publish his memoirs, someone is willing to kill to prevent him from doing so.

It took the death of his mother, and Elliot Mills’s own injury to bring father and son back together.   Now the threats against his father’s life has Elliot reaching out to those in his father’s past, an action that  brings him up against the FBI and his lover, FBI Agent Tucker Lance.

Now living together, Tucker and Elliot are still trying to find their way to a solid relationship and these threats against Roland threaten that solidity once again. Tucker has never agreed with radical Roland on much, but when it comes to wanting Elliot to stay out of the mess Roland has gotten into, he and Roland agree for once that Elliot needs to let it alone.  As the danger closes in, it threatens not just Roland’s life, but that of Elliot’s and their relationship as well.

The first book in this series, Fair Game, remains a favorite read of mine.  I loved the complicated characters, the angst filled  past, and the tumultuous circumstances that brought such strong, intelligent men together.  Adding to that, Josh Lanyon completed his cast of characters by giving Elliot a compelling family history with a 60’s activist father, and beloved deceased mother and a host of wild and chaotic personalities that swirled around his father and the university they both teach at.  And then Lanyon piled on some horrific murders to boot!

At the conclusion of Fair Game, Tucker and Elliot agreed to give their relationship another try and this story, Fair Play, picks up with Tucker already living in Elliot’s house on the island.  Their relationship is passionate and committed, yet both men are still obviously adjusting to all new aspects of their cohabitation.  I have always loved this author’s ability to create such layered, fascinating characters and then bring them to life through sharp, thoughtful dialog and emotional interplay.  We feel Elliot’s and Tucker’s hesitations, those halting advances towards openness and vulnerability that is so hard for them both, in scene after scene.  It makes their journey back to each other feel real and sometimes painfully slow.  That makes it extremely gratifiying when they can move past these realistic moments in their relationship to something deeper.   And all the while,  they are trying to deal with Roland’s intractability, fear, and an unknown killer on the loose.

The father/son dynamics between Roland and Elliot that Lanyon has brought into this series is as compelling as the one between Tucker and Elliot, and its not always a given that the relationship will survive the actions of each other, as diametrically opposed as they often are.  I loved the mystery that goes along with the attempts on Roland’s life, it leads into the past and the idea that all actions have reverberations that will continue into the present and beyond.    We also see the potential for the villain in the first story to make a reappearance soon.  That alone gave me the shivers.

In Fair Play, we are there as Tucker and Elliot solve complicated mysteries and move deeper into their relationship. The suspense is gripping, and the emotional involvement never lets up.  We are engrossed in the hunt for the would-be assassin while also heavily invested in Tucker and Elliot’s sometimes shaky partnership and well being. Fair Play is immensely satisfying,  totally entertaining, and a wonderful read.   I highly recommend not only this book but the first in the series as well.   Start with Fair Game to see what brings Elliot and Tucker back together and then continue on to Fair Play.  What a ride awaits you in the All’s Fair series from Josh Lanyon.

 

Cover Artist is a great job in overall tone and concept.

Sales Links:  Carina Press      All Romance (ARe)        Amazon   Buy it Here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 250 pages
Published November 10th 2014 by Carina Press
ASINB00KV5Z7M0
series All’s Fair #2

All’s Fair Series:

Fair Game
Fair Play (All’s Fair #2)

A MelanieM Review: The Boy with the Painful Tattoo (Holmes & Moriarity #3) by Josh Lanyon

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

The Boy with the Painful Tattoo coverStill dealing with the fallout from their recent investigation and murder,  mystery author Christopher “Kit” Holmes decided to overcome his misgivings and move in with his lover and fellow mystery writer, Julian Xavier “JX” Moriarity, a decision that has precipitated a move to San Francisco and a new house.  What could go wrong?

Well, almost everything.  With boxes still piled all around them, JX heads off to the Murder at Midtown conference, leaving Kit to ponder on the wisdom of this latest move…relationship and house.  Still, nothing  prepares Kit for the dead body under the Styrofoam beads in the crate that should have contained his old and treasured china.

Packing will have to wait while more mysteries pop up to solve along with dead bodies.  Who is the dead man?  Why is he in Kit and JX’s crate?  And importantly, what happened to Kit’s china?

I have been waiting for another book in the Holmes & Moriarity series since December 2010 when I finished the marvelous story, All She Wrote (Holmes & Moriarity #2).  The aftermath of the murders and events of that novel were nothing short of earthshattering. And that story left me wonderfing what would happen next…to both our main characters as well as their relationship.  Now, four years later I finally have my answer with The Boy With The Painful Tattoo (Holmes & Moriarity #3). Well, sort of, and I couldn’t be happier.

I said “sort of” because as any fan of Josh Lanyon’s and his stories know, nothing is ever a sure thing, including an absolutely happy resolution with his characters or their relationships.  Whether it is Adrien English and his lover, the tormented, closeted Jake Riordan (who make guest appearances here), or Kit Holmes and JX Moriarity, the foundation on which their lives and relationships is built lies on shaky ground, a terrain where you almost expect to see the fissures and cracks that habitually appear to threaten their relationship, sanity, and in some cases, their lives.  Also well known to us fans is that the source for some of these ruptures and interruptions spring from and are self inflicted by the complex, introspective and wounded men that Josh Lanyon writes so well.

We live in the mind of Kit Holmes in this series and what a mind that is!  Highly intelligent, questioning, somewhat quarrelsome, and introspective, Kit’s emotionally and mentally scattered when we jump into their new life and home on Chestnut Lane.  His decision, prompted by the awful events in the last book, to move in with JX has seen him give up his home in Southern California to move with all his treasured belongings to San Francisco where JX can be close to his ex wife and nephew (long story, read the books).  And at every step and moment we know (as we are listening into his internal monologue) that Kit constantly questions whether he has done the right thing, if their relationship will work out, and how will they juggle the changing dynamics that the reversal in their career fortunes is introducing into their partnership.  There is so much stuff crammed into that brilliant skull that it would be exhausting for all trying to untangle it if it wasn’t also so marvelously entertaining.  And wouldn’t Kit just hate that!

I adore Kit in all his difficult, brooding glory but I have also fallen in love with  JX, a  man with his own “quieter” set of issues and problems.  JX is an author whose career is on the rise just as Kit’s popularity as an author and mystery genre is falling out of favor.  But whereas Kit’s wears his foibles and somewhat contentious nature like a well fitted suit, JX’s flaws and complexities are far more subtle, needing a major crash, explosion or even murder to bring them out into the open.  The juxtaposition of these two strong personalities as they struggle to maintain a relationship or investigation makes this series and this book always absorbing and highly addictive.

How can you not love a man whose just had the best, most explosive sex of his life,, and then spends the next moments pondering (internally of course) what’s wrong with it, them and himself?  All while still in bed, naked and sweaty?  If, as Socrates says “an unexamined life is not worth living”, then Kit Holmes is living life to the fullest!

And there are more joys to be found with this latest installment of Holmes & Moriarity.  Their move onto Chestnut Lane has brought them a curious neighbor with the wonderful name of Emmaline Bloodworth.  Any one with a familiarity of British cozies should be rubbing their hands together in anticipation.  Here is our (and Kit’s) first introduction to her:

I saw a small person of indeterminate sex, dressed in baggy clothes. At first glance it appeared that one of the garden gnomes from next door had come to life. And had something to say about it.

“Good morning!” the gnome greeted me. She had one of those fluting, high voices that brought to mind Sunday school teachers and curators at the most macabre exhibits at the Tower of London. A voice like an ice pick through your left eye socket. “Welcome to the neighborhood. So sorry to disturb you on your first morning, but the movers must have broken one of the sprinkler heads along your front walk.”

“Oh. Uh…okay.”

As I seemed to be missing the point, she said kindly, “Water is shooting up like a geyser out there. There’s a drought going on, you know.”

She was probably in her sixties, but unlike my former mentor Anna Hitchcock, no effort here had been made to stave off the ravages of time. Not that she looked ravaged. Beneath the wide brim of her hat I could just make out twinkling blue eyes in a round and rosy face.

And yes, she has a cat which just happens to resemble in name and appearance the feline that figures so largely in Kit’s mystery novels.  Another mystery to solve?  I hope so.

And then there is Inspector Ishwar “Izzie” Jones, SFPD and JX’s former partner, Rachel Ving or Ving the Merciless as Kit’s agent is known who wants Kit to write Swedish type mysteries, JX’s ex wife and former sister in law Nina and Gage, her son and his nephew (really, you must read the first two stories).  The Boy with the Painful Tattoo is chock full of the most wonderful characters and intriguing situations you could hope for, especially in ones that act as secondary storylines along side the primary ones of murder most foul and a relationship still looking to find solid ground, albeit temporarily.

Yes, I loved this book, yes, I adore this series and I think any lover of mysteries (M/M or otherwise) will as well.  Combine a terrific mystery with two believable and charismatic men trying to balance lives, love, and careers and you have author whose series and main characters should be on everyone’s Must Have, Must Read lists.   I can’t wait to see what happens next in the lives of Holmes & Moriarity but if you are new to this couple, start with the first mystery where they are reunited in Somebody Killed His Editor (Holmes & Moriarity #1).  Continue onto All She Wrote (Holmes & Moriarity, #2), before arriving here at The Boy with the Painful Tattoo (Holmes & Moriarity, #3).  If you’ve been good or perhaps very, very naughty and good, you might find them in your eReader stocking!

I love Josh Lanyon and this story is just another reason why he should be on everyone’s top list of authors whose stories you must have.  Consider The Boy With The Painful Tattoo one of my Highly Recommneded Reads!

Cover art by L.C. Chase.  Love the cover.  It has that sort of Noir feel to it of the older mystery novel covers. Great job.

Sales Links:  Josh Lanyon        All Romance (ARe)         amazon                  buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 228 pages
Published October 5th 2014 by Just Joshin (first published October 3rd 2014)
original titleThe Boy with the Painful Tattoo
ISBN139781937909376
edition languageEnglish
seriesHolmes & Moriarity #3

Books in the  Holmes & Moriarity series in the order they were written and should be read to understand the timeline of events and relationship history:

Somebody Killed His Editor (Holmes & Moriarity #1)
All She Wrote (Holmes & Moriarity, #2)
The Boy with the Painful Tattoo (Holmes & Moriarity, #3)

 

A MelanieM Review: Texas Fall (Texas #6) by R.J. Scott

Rating:  4.5 stars out of 5

Texas FAll coverLife with the Campbell-Hayes family is never dull.   Their enlarged family is settling in, Jack is busy with the preparations for the equine therapy school for children with special needs as well as their regular training and breeding programs.  Meanwhile Riley has agreed to take on a new assistant and both travel to Mexico on an exploratory mission.

Just when things seem to have settled down, threats of imminent danger appear on the horizon.  Hostile forces are at work on the other side of the border and the trial featuring Vaughn and Darren’s (as well as Robbie, Eli, Liam and Marcus) goes explosive.  With this extended family, anything can happen.  Once more events will challenge Jack and Riley’s love and family. Watch the characters you have come to love rise to the occasion yet again.

How I love this family and series by RJ Scott.  Texas Fall, the new Texas series story, is like a welcome visit with a beloved family member.  You know that whatever surprises they may have packed in their suitcases they brought along on the visit, you will be entertained, absorbed in their stories, and so happy to have them in close proximity once more.  Those warm feelings engendered by this couple have grown deeper since Riley and Jack added their special needs son, Max, who I adore and twins Connor and Lexie.  Somehow instead of stretching their story thin by adding more characters to this already extended family, it has only enriched it and made it more heartwarming, especially with the addition of Max.

In Texas Fall, RJ Scott is juggling a number of elements.  Max is getting older and a little more independent which brings its own challenges, Haley too is growing up and her teen years arrive with the normal amount of teenage woe.  All the various aspects of growth regarding the Campbell-Hayes brood is handled warmly, realistically and with a sort of wry familial humor that comes with having raised your own children.  And yes, these sections are among my favorites.  I love how each child’s personality comes into play from scene to scene.  They are as much individuals as their older counterparts, just as they should.

New characters that arrive in recent stories like Texas Christmas are back with continuations of past events and challenges to their current situations.  That would be Marcus and Liam as well as Robbie and Eli.  Plus Sean and Eden will figure largely into the drama and trauma that occurs within this story.  Does it ever feel overboard or crowded?  No more than a huge kitchen filled full of family during the holidays.  You know the feeling, lots of noise and commotion to go along with the chaos, confusion, love, and joy.

Yes, there are some very serious moments here.  Riley and his assistant run into heart-wrenching trouble on the other side of the border. And the aftermath is handled by Scott with the sensitivity and seriousness it needs.  How it all falls apart and then back together again is one of the anticipated joys and gratifying aspects of this ever enlarging Texas family.

If you are already in love with the Texas series, then you have probably already scarfed this story up.  If you are new to the Campbell-Hayes family, don’t start here.  Return to the beginning and The Heart of Texas and work your way through all the trials, tribulations and triumphs in store for these men and their families.  Heartwarming?  Absolutely.   It’s a perfect gift for the Holidays, whether it is for yourself or someone else.  I am happily recommending Texas Fall and the entire Texas series.  Happy Reading.

 

 

Cover artist Meredith Russell.  How adorable is that cover.  Love it.

Sales Links:  Love Lane Books   All Romance (ARe)      amazon       buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 160 pages
Published 2014 by Love Lane Books Limited
url http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/texas-fall-texas-6-cover-reveal-art-by.html
seriesTexas #6

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

The Heart of Texas (Texas, #1)
Texas Winter (Texas, #2)
Texas Heat (Texas, #3)
Texas Family (Texas, #4)
Texas Christmas (Texas, #5)
Texas Fall (Texas #6) fon